asked about.” [al-Isra 17:34] The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Every condition that is not in the Book of Allah is invalid.” (1) He also said: “Muslims are bound by their conditions, except a condition that makes lawful what is unlawful or makes unlawful what is lawful.” (2) As for the rationale, the right belongs to her; so if she agrees to defer it, she has the right to do so. Accordingly, its deferment is valid and not disliked.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, inclined to the view that deferment is disliked. He inferred this from the account of the man who said, “I have nothing but my waist-wrapper,” and who could not find even an iron ring; so the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, married him to her for what he knew of the Quran. (3) It would have been possible to defer the bridal gift. He also cited the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And let those who do not find the means to marry remain chaste until Allah enriches them from His bounty.” [al-Nur 24:33]

One may also cite the Prophet’s saying: “O young men, whoever among you is able to marry should marry; and whoever is unable should fast.” (4) Yet this hadith is not a strong proof, for someone might say that the phrase “whoever among you is able” includes both immediate payment and deferred payment. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that if marriage can be undertaken without deferment, that is better. There is no question about this, because burdening oneself with debt is no trivial matter.

On this occasion, I would like students of knowledge to beware of those covetous, greedy people who incur many debts and purchase things that are beyond their means and ability to repay—whether out of ostentation in building a palace or buying a car, or out of hope for profit in trade. How many people have