Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (32/52)

Majmu' al-FatawaIbn Taimiya

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was also asked:

“An orphan girl has received a marriage proposal from a man who acts as an agent for various establishments in the city, but her mother’s husband dislikes him. May her paternal uncle and her brother marry her off without her consent?”

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. By agreement of the imams, no one other than her father or paternal grandfather may marry off a woman who has reached puberty without her consent. Indeed, according to one of the two scholarly opinions—the sounder of them—even her father may not marry her off without her consent. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and one of the two reported positions of Ahmad. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“A virgin must not be married until her permission is sought, nor a previously married woman until she is consulted.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, but a virgin is shy?” He replied, “Her silence is her consent.”

Another wording states:

“Her father must seek her permission, and her silence is her consent.”

As for her paternal uncle and her brother, neither may marry her off without her consent, by agreement of the scholars. If she accepts a man who is a suitable match for her, her guardian—her brother, followed by her paternal uncle—is obliged to marry her to him. If he obstructs her marriage and refuses to marry her off, then a more distant guardian or the judge is to marry her to him without his permission, by agreement of the scholars.

A guardian has no right to compel her to marry someone she does not accept, nor to prevent her from marrying someone she accepts if he is a suitable match, by agreement of the imams. Such coercion and obstruction are practised only by the people of pre-Islamic ignorance and by wrongdoers, who marry the women under their guardianship to men of their own choosing for some ulterior purpose, rather than for the woman’s welfare. They force her into it or embarrass her into agreeing. They also prevent her from marrying a suitable match out of enmity

وَسُئِلَ شَيْخُ الْإِسْلَامِ - رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ -: عَنْ بِنْتٍ يَتِيمَةٍ وَقَدْ طَلَبَهَا رَجُلٌ وَكِيلٌ عَلَى جِهَاتِ الْمَدِينَةِ وَزَوْجُ أُمِّهَا كَارِهٌ فِي الْوَكِيلِ. فَهَلْ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يُزَوِّجَهَا عَمُّهَا وَأَخُوهَا بِلَا إذْنٍ مِنْهَا أَمْ لَا؟ فَأَجَابَ: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، الْمَرْأَةُ الْبَالِغُ لَا يُزَوِّجُهَا غَيْرُ الْأَبِ وَالْجَدِّ بِغَيْرِ إذْنِهَا بِاتِّفَاقِ الْأَئِمَّةِ؛ بَلْ وَكَذَلِكَ لَا يُزَوِّجُهَا الْأَبُ إلَّا بِإِذْنِهَا فِي أَحَدِ قَوْلَيْ الْعُلَمَاءِ؛ بَلْ فِي أَصَحِّهِمَا وَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ وَأَحْمَد فِي إحْدَى الرِّوَايَتَيْنِ كَمَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ {لَا تُنْكَحُ الْبِكْرُ حَتَّى تُسْتَأْذَنَ وَلَا الثَّيِّبُ حَتَّى تُسْتَأْمَرَ قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ الْبِكْرَ تَسْتَحِي؟ قَالَ: إذْنُهَا صُمَاتُهَا} وَفِي لَفْظٍ {يَسْتَأْذِنُهَا أَبُوهَا وَإِذْنُهَا صُمَاتُهَا} وَأَمَّا الْعَمُّ وَالْأَخُ فَلَا يُزَوِّجَانِهَا بِغَيْرِ إذْنِهَا بِاتِّفَاقِ الْعُلَمَاءِ. وَإِذَا رَضِيَتْ رَجُلًا وَكَانَ كُفُؤًا لَهَا وَجَبَ عَلَى وَلِيِّهَا - كَالْأَخِ ثُمَّ الْعَمِّ - أَنْ يُزَوِّجَهَا بِهِ فَإِنْ عَضَلَهَا وَامْتَنَعَ مِنْ تَزْوِيجِهَا زَوَّجَهَا الْوَلِيُّ الْأَبْعَدُ مِنْهُ أَوْ الْحَاكِمُ بِغَيْرِ إذْنِهِ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْعُلَمَاءِ؛ فَلَيْسَ لِلْوَلِيِّ أَنْ يُجْبِرَهَا عَلَى نِكَاحِ مَنْ لَا تَرْضَاهُ؛ وَلَا يَعْضُلُهَا عَنْ نِكَاحِ مَنْ تَرْضَاهُ إذَا كَانَ كُفُؤًا بِاتِّفَاقِ الْأَئِمَّةِ؛ وَإِنَّمَا يُجْبِرُهَا وَيَعْضُلُهَا أَهْلُ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ وَالظَّلَمَةُ الَّذِينَ يُزَوِّجُونَ نِسَاءَهُمْ لِمَنْ يَخْتَارُونَهُ لِغَرَضِ؛ لَا لِمَصْلَحَةِ الْمَرْأَةِ وَيُكْرِهُونَهَا عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَوْ يُخْجِلُونَهَا حَتَّى تَفْعَلَ. وَيَعْضُلُونَهَا عَنْ نِكَاحِ مَنْ يَكُونُ كُفُؤًا لَهَا لِعَدَاوَةِ