Chapter on Marriage Contracted During Terminal Illness

It is not lawful for a man who is terminally ill to marry, nor for a woman in that state, whether both are ill or only one of them. Anyone who contracts such a marriage while ill must have the union annulled, whether this occurs before or after consummation. Should the sick spouse die from that very illness, the healthy partner has no right to inherit, regardless of whether intercourse took place.

If the annulment is effected prior to consummation, the woman is entitled to neither dower nor inheritance. If the husband consummates with a wife who is herself ill and she then dies, Mālik rules that she is owed the dower stipulated in the contract, whereas Ibn al-Qāsim holds that she receives the customary dower; under both opinions she inherits nothing.

When the husband is the one who is ill and consummation has occurred, the dower is charged to one-third of his estate, taking precedence over all bequests—except for a slave whom he had declared mudabbar while still healthy. If he had named a dower greater than the customary amount, anything beyond that customary figure is nullified. Finally, if both spouses recover before the annulment takes place, the marriage remains valid, whether it had been consummated or not.