“The second” is that the marriage is valid but the stipulation is void. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and his followers in all these cases. A number of Ahmad’s followers, including Abū al-Khattāb, Ibn ‘Aqīl and others, inferred this as a view within his school—even in the case of an invalid marriage. Abū Hanīfah and his two companions regard it as invalid, whereas Zufar upholds the contract and disregards the underlying basis. Both scholars derived this as a view within Ahmad’s school.

This inference rests on Ahmad’s explicit ruling concerning the statement: “If you bring me the dower by such-and-such a time; otherwise, there is no marriage between us.” Three positions are reported from him concerning this: one upholding both the contract and the stipulation; another invalidating both; and a third upholding the contract but not the stipulation. Likewise, where a man marries a woman on condition that she return the dower to him, Ahmad explicitly affirmed its validity and the invalidity of the stipulation.

“The third view” concerning invalid stipulations is that exchange marriage, temporary marriage and tahlīl marriage stipulated in the contract are invalid, whereas marriage involving an unlawful dower or a stipulation excluding the dower is valid. This is al-Shāfi‘ī’s position and the second position reported from Ahmad. Many of Ahmad’s followers preferred it, including al-Harbī, Judge Abū Ya‘lā and his followers.

These scholars distinguish between the marriage contracts they uphold despite an invalid stipulation and those they invalidate on the following basis: if the stipulation is removed, a marriage remains; otherwise, it is invalid, as in “temporary marriage.” The same applies to “tahlīl marriage” when its duration is defined by the completion of an act, as when someone says: “I marry her to you until you make her lawful again for her former husband.”

But if he says, “On condition that once you have made her lawful again for her former husband, there will be no marriage between you,” or, “On condition that you divorce her once you have made her lawful again for her former husband,” then there is disagreement within al-Shāfi‘ī’s school. Abū Yūsuf agrees with al-Shāfi‘ī’s view that it is invalid.