Chapter: Compatibility

Introduction

The term “compatibility” (with a fatḥah on the kāf) linguistically denotes equality. Hence the ḥadith, “The blood of the Muslims is of equal worth,” meaning it is the same. The words kufʾ and kufuʾ, both on the pattern of qufl and qufūl, signify likeness or correspondence, and from this comes the idea of compatibility in marriage.

Al-Baḥūtī writes in Kashshāf al-Qināʿ, in summary:

Legally, compatibility is taken into account in five matters:

1 – Religion: an immoral or openly sinful man is not a match for a chaste woman.
2 – Freedom: a slave is not a match for a free woman.
3 – Occupation: a man engaged in a lowly trade—such as a cupper or a weaver—is not a match for the daughter of a merchant.
4 – Financial capacity: he must possess the means to provide the maintenance and dower that are due to her; an insolvent man is not a match for a wealthy woman.
5 – Lineage: a non-Arab is not a match for an Arab woman.

Among the Arabs, whether of Quraysh or other tribes, each is compatible with the other, and all the rest of humanity are likewise compatible with one another.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah states in Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm: The consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah is that the Arab stock is superior to the non-Arabs, and that Quraysh is superior