the Magians permitted marriage to women within the prohibited degrees of kinship: a man would marry his sister, his paternal aunt, his maternal aunt, or his daughter—may Allah protect us.

His statement, “They are left in their invalid marriages if they regard them as valid according to their own law and do not bring their case before us”: The author mentions two conditions:

First: that they regard it as valid according to their own law. It would have been more precise had the author said, “if it is valid according to their law,” because they may regard it as valid when it is not actually valid under their law—for instance, if they are ignorant. What matters, then, is that it be valid according to their law; in that case, we do not interfere with it.

Second: that they do not bring their case before us—that is, they do not say, “Examine our marriage and judge between us concerning it according to what the Sacred Law requires.” If it is not valid according to their law—for example, if a Jew marries his sister—are we to leave him in that marriage? No, because it is not valid according to their law. We therefore prevent it and separate them. Likewise, if they bring their case before us, we do not judge between them according to their own law, because Allah has commanded us to judge between them by the Book of Allah: “And if you judge, judge between them with justice.” [al-Ma'idah: 42] Thus, if they bring their case before us, we are obliged to judge by the Book of Allah. Hence he said:

“But if they come to us before concluding the contract, we conclude it for them according to our rulings”: that is, if they come to us before the contract has been concluded, we must conclude it for them in accordance with our Sacred Law: with an offer and acceptance, specification of the wife and husband, mutual consent, a guardian, witnesses, and the bridal gift—according to the view that it is a stipulated condition.