859 – ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The condition that most deserves to be carried out is the one by which you make marital relations lawful.” Agreed upon. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
– “inna aḥaqqa al-shurūṭ”: aḥaqq is in the accusative as the subject of inna. The author of al-Ikmāl notes that here aḥaqq means “most entitled,” according to the unanimous view of the scholars.
– al-shurūṭ (conditions): plural of shart. What is intended are the lawful conditions attached to marriage that do not contradict the essence of the contract, such as the amount and type of the dowry, residence, and the like.
– mā istaḥlaltum bihi: the predicate of inna, i.e. by which the union becomes lawful for you, as opposed to forbidden.
– al-furūj (private parts): plural of farj, like fals/fulūs. The root signifies an opening or gap, such as a breach in a wall, and is used figuratively for relief from hardship. In human anatomy it denotes the front and back private parts, each being an opening; al-Miṣbāḥ states that common usage limits it mainly to the front.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith

1. A condition is an obligation that one contracting party places upon the other, by virtue of the contract, from which he obtains a lawful benefit or purpose. Conditions must be honoured, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “The Muslims are bound by their conditions.”
2. Shaykh al-Islām said: The default ruling concerning contracts and conditions is permissibility and validity, and nothing is unlawful.