after two, three, or five years. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, was married to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when she was six years old, and he consummated the marriage with her when she was nine. (1) Since the Sacred Law has not prohibited this, there is nothing to prevent stipulating it. Had it been forbidden, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would not have done it. And since it is not forbidden, it is permissible; and since it is permissible, stipulating it is permissible.
“The condition is void, but the marriage is valid. If he stipulates that she be Muslim, but she proves to be a woman from the People of the Scripture, …”
His statement, “The condition is void”: the reason given is that it conflicts with what the contract entails. In truth, however, this reasoning requires examination. We have three expressions: conflict with the contract in its unrestricted sense; conflict with what the contract entails; and conflict with the contract itself.
Conflict with the contract in its unrestricted sense applies to all conditions that are not prescribed by the Sacred Law, since an unrestricted contract entails the absence of any condition.
As for conflict with what the contract entails: if what is meant is the implication of the unrestricted contract, then this is the first category, since all conditions conflict with the implication of an unrestricted contract. And if what is meant is conflict with the implication of a contract in which this particular matter has not been stipulated, then the same is true. Thus, this reasoning is open to question, for we may say that all valid and invalid conditions conflict with what the contract entails. But what, then, is the correct reasoning?
The correct reasoning is to say: because it conflicts with the contract itself—that is, it conflicts with what the Sacred Law has ordained. An example is when the seller stipulates that the right of patronage belongs to him if the buyer emancipates the slave. This conflicts with the contract. Thus, the correct wording in this case is: the condition