“When any of you wishes to demand a woman in marriage, if he can arrange it, let him see her first.”
“A woman ripe in years shall have her consent asked in marriage, and if she remain silent her silence is her consent, and if she refuse she shall not be married by force.”
“A widow shall not be married until she be consulted, nor shall a virgin be married until her consent be asked.” The Companions said, “In what manner is the permission of a virgin?” He replied, “Her consent is by her silence.”
“If a woman marries without the consent of her guardian, her marriage is null and void, is null and void, is null and void; then, if her marriage hath been consummated, the woman shall take her dower; if her guardians dispute about her marriage, then the king is her guardian.”
The subject of Muslim marriages will now be treated in the present article under the headings—I. The Validity of Marriage; II. The Legal Disabilities to Marriage; III. The Religious Ceremony; IV. The Marriage Festivities.
I.—The Validity of Marriage.
Muslims are permitted to marry four free women, and to have as many slaves for concubines as they may have acquired. See Qurʾān, [Sūrah iv. 3]: “Of women who seem good in your eyes, marry two, or three, or four; and if ye still fear that ye shall not act equitably, then one only; or the slaves whom ye have acquired.” [[WIVES].]
Usufructory or temporary marriages were sanctioned by the Prophet, but this law is said by the Sunnīs to have been abrogated, although it is allowed by the Shīʿahs, and is practised in Persia in the present day. [[MUTʿAH].] These temporary marriages are undoubtedly the greatest blot in Muḥammad’s moral legislation, and admit of no satisfactory apology.
Marriage, according to Muḥammadan law, is simply a civil contract, and its validity does not depend upon any religious ceremony. Though the civil contract is not positively prescribed to be reduced to writing, its validity depends upon the consent of the parties, which is called ījāb and qabūl, “declaration” and “acceptance”; the presence of two male witnesses (or one male and two female witnesses); and a dower of not less than ten dirhams, to be settled upon the woman. The omission of the settlement does not, however, invalidate the contract, for under any circumstances, the woman becomes entitled to her dower of ten dirhams or more. (A dower suitable to the position of the woman is called Mahru ʾl-mis̤l.)
Liberty is allowed a woman who has reached the age of puberty, to marry or refuse to marry a particular man, independent of her guardian, who has no power to dispose of her in marriage without her consent or against her will; while the objection is reserved for the girl, married by her guardian during her infancy, to ratify or dissolve the contract immediately on reaching her majority. When a woman, adult and sane, elects to be married through an agent (wakīl), she empowers him, in the presence of competent witnesses, to convey her consent to the bridegroom. The agent, if a stranger, need not see her, and it is sufficient that the witnesses, who see her, satisfy him that she, expressly or impliedly, consents to the proposition of which he is the bearer. The law respects the modesty of the sex, and allows the expression of consent on the part of the lady by indirect ways, even without words. With a virgin, silence is taken as consent, and so is a smile or laugh.