Chapter on Defects Affecting the Marriage Contract

Introduction

The term “defects” (ʿuyūb, sing. ʿayb) here refers to whatever flaw entitles one of the spouses to choose between keeping the marriage or dissolving it, as opposed to a defect that does not confer such an option.

From one angle, defects fall into two broad categories:

1. Sexual defects that prevent marital intimacy, such as al-jabb (complete amputation of the penis), al-ʿunnah (incurable impotence), and khiṣāʾ (castration) in the man, or al-ratq (a congenitally sealed vagina), al-qaran (an obstructive growth), and al-ʿafal (a swelling that narrows the passage) in the woman.

2. Defects that do not bar intercourse but are repulsive diseases that make normal companionship almost impossible except under compulsion—such as insanity, leprosy, syphilis, and other contagious illnesses.

Viewed from the standpoint of which spouse is affected, the defects may be grouped into three classes:

1. Defects confined to the man: al-jabb (the penis cut off so that nothing remains sufficient for intercourse), al-ʿunnah (erectile impotence), and khiṣāʾ (removal of the testicles).

2. Defects confined to the woman: al-ratq, where the vaginal opening is sealed from birth; al-qaran; and al-ʿafal, a tumorous growth in the tissue between the two orifices that so narrows the vagina that penetration is impossible.

3. Defects common to both sexes: insanity, leprosy, vitiligo, constant involuntary flow of urine or feces, hemorrhoids, and fistulas.

Ibn al-Qayyim stated that the sound position is that marriage may be annulled on account of any of these defects, just as other