contracts; for the presumption is that they are sound. Thus, whenever the contract contains a deficiency—such as the loss of a limb, blindness, muteness, deafness, or any defect that repels the other spouse and thwarts the objective of marriage, namely affection and mercy—the aggrieved party is given the option to annul it.

Al-Mardāwī states in al-Inṣāf: “This is by no means remote.”

Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn (Ibn Taymiyyah) said: “If it turns out that the husband is sterile, then by analogy with our position the wife is entitled to the option, for she has a right to bear children. The sound view, therefore, is that any defect that repels either spouse grants the dissatisfied party the right to dissolve the marriage.”