Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (12/210)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

all of them or some of them. Can one who hears not become deaf?! Certainly; one who sees may become blind, and one who is physically strong may become weak. Likewise, one who has a strong sexual desire may become weak. Many people are afflicted with an illness that causes them to lose sexual desire altogether: they have no desire whatsoever, and their penis does not become erect. This is impotence. So how can we know with certainty that her husband did not have intercourse with her, and then say that she has no option?! The correct view is that impotence can arise, and when it does, the wife has the option.

If someone asks: How can you give her the option regarding something Allah has decreed for the husband and which is not within his choice? We say: This is among the calamities with which a person may be afflicted. The husband has been afflicted by this calamity, but we should not make his calamity a calamity for someone else. If a man is unable to provide maintenance, the wife has the right to annul the marriage; so what if he is unable to provide what is more important to her than maintenance?! Many women are not concerned with maintenance; rather, what concerns them is marital intimacy and having children, while maintenance is secondary to them. Indeed, she may even spend on her husband. Thus, without doubt, the correct view is that whenever impotence is established—even if it arose later—and it is known that sexual desire will not return, she has the right to annul the marriage. But if the impotence is a temporary condition that will pass, we do not allow her to annul the marriage, because there remains hope that he will regain the ability to have intercourse.

His statement, “And if she admits that he had intercourse with her”: In al-Rawḍ (1), it says: vaginal intercourse in the marriage concerning which they have brought their dispute before the judge, even if only once—“then he is not impotent.” This indicates that if she admits that he had intercourse with her in a previous marriage, then divorced her and married her again but did not have intercourse with her, he is impotent. This supports the view we considered preponderant, which is

(1) Al-Rawd al-Murbi' with the Hashiyat Ibn Qasim, 6:336.

كلها أو بعضها، أليس السميع يمكن أن يلحقه الصمم؟! بلى، والبصير يلحقه العمى، والقوي الجسم يلحقه الضعف، أيضاً قوي الشهوة يلحقه الضعف، فكثير من الناس يبتلى بمرض يفقده الشهوة نهائياً، فلا يشتهي إطلاقاً ولا ينتشر ذكره، وهذه هي العُنة، فكيف نعلم علم اليقين أن زوجها لم يجامعها، ثم نقول: إنه لا خيار لها؟! فالصواب أن العنة تحدث، وأنها إذا حدثت فللزوجة الخيار. فإذا قال قائل: كيف تجعلون لها الخيار في أمر قدره الله على الزوج، وليس باختياره؟ قلنا: هذا من المصائب التي يبتلى بها المرء، فالزوج ابتلي بهذه المصيبة، فلا نجعل مصيبته مصيبة على غيره، وإذا كان الرجل إذا أعسر بالنفقة فللزوجة الفسخ، فكيف إذا أعسر بما هو أهم عندها من النفقة؟! فكثير من النساء ما يهمهن النفقة، بل يهمهن الاستمتاع والولد، والنفقة عندهن شيء ثانوي، بل ربما تنفق على زوجها، فالصواب بلا شك أنه متى ثبتت العُنة ولو طارئة وعلم أنها لن تعود شهوة النكاح، فإن لها الفسخ، أما إذا كانت العنة أمراً طارئاً يزول فإننا لا نمكنها من الفسخ؛ لعدم اليأس من قدرته على الجماع. وقوله: «وإن اعترفت أنه وطئها» قال في الروض (١): في القبل في النكاح الذي ترافعا فيه ولو مرة «فليس بعنين»، فعلم منه أنه لو اعترفت أنه وطئها في نكاح سابق، ثم طلقها ثم تزوجها ثانياً ولم يطأها أنه عنين، وهذا ما يؤيد القول الذي رجحناه، وهو

(١) الروض المربع مع حاشية ابن قاسم (٦/ ٣٣٦).