Solemnisation of marriage: Keynotes from the Shari’ah

Introduction

THIS column, ‘Understanding Islam’, has come to educate and enlighten readers on topics that are germane to the basic teachings of the Holy Qur’an; the history of the evolution of Islam; the fundamentals of the religion; the Shari’ah, as it is expected to be interpreted and practised; the tradition of the Prophet (SAW), known as the Sunnah; the concepts of death and afterlife, the Day of Judgment, etc.

Islam, as a basis of worshiping the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is open to all who may be willing to understand any aspect of the philosophy of Islam. Nothing is concealed whatsoever.

Knowledge is sacrosanct. Practising Islam with ignorance of its tenets is considered damaging in itself. It is wrong for any Muslim to ignore the tenets contained in the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet (Sunnah) and then take to self-initiatives and judgments (bid’ah).

‘Understanding Islam’ is a means to throw lights on Islamic injunctions. The ethics and practices shall be elucidated on a regular basis. The readers will be fed with the truth about Islam, in the hope that much of the negative perceptions about the religion largely due to sheer ignorance or misinformation will be eloquently addressed with series of contributions of clerics within the intelligentsia with whom Allah (SWT)  has endowed the ummah.

Solemnisation of marriage: Keynotes from the Shari’ah

A mumeen does not go by his personal wish or volition when he must take decisions, particularly in matters of sensitive religious concerns like matrimony. Even as he discharges these obligatory duties upon himself or as a parent, he must be guided by the sunnah of the Prophet (saw). Islam, a complete way of life here and hereafter, discourages any form of mishap or failure that could be brought to matrimony, ‘Nikhaa’.

The religion thus provides a well articulated and entrenched system that the faithful must abide by in order to propagate the wishes of Allah (SWT) to get the individual Muslim prepared even in the event of a mishap or marital misadventure.

Marriage according to the Sunnah

A Muslim male adult (who must have all attributes, as required in Sha’ariah, goes to seek a woman for a wife according to the traditions of the Prophet (SAW), and as prescribed in the Qur’an by Allah (SWT) for the relationship and every other thing therein to be sanctified as pious acts of iba’adah in the sight of the Creator. Al-Nikhaa underscores a core purpose for Allah (SWT) to have considered humanity, animals and plants as very potent and beneficial to creation. Allah (SWT) states in Surah 51 Ayah 49: “And of everything We have created pairs, that you may remember (the Grace Of Allah).” Elsewhere, in the Glorious Qur’an, Surah 24 Aya 32, Allah (SWT) admonishes: “And marry those among you who are single (i.e. a woman who has no husband) and also marry the Salihun (pious, fit and capable ones) of your (male) slaves and maid-servants (female slaves). If they be poor, Allah will enrich them out of His bounty. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knowing (about the state of the people).”

It is on this premise that marriage, according to Islamic law, is scaled on the following pre-conditions (Fiqiu Sunnah, Vol.2, PP 11-12):

1. Getting married to a wife is required of a Muslim who has the sexual energy but should equally be capable of fulfilling pecuniary responsibilities on the woman, if such a Muslim cannot abstain himself from the evil of ‘zinah’ (promiscuity).
2. Getting married is strictly prohibited for an impotent Muslim male. Naturally, such a Muslim is not expected to get a wife for the simple reality that he cannot meet the conjugal needs of a woman.
3. Getting married is Sunnah (i.e., not mandatory but religiously required of him) for a Muslim male who, for one ailment or the other, considers marital conjugation somewhat a challenge. However, he must avoid acts of ‘zinah’ once he chooses not to get married.
4. Getting married to a woman is forbidden for a Muslim male whose capacity and strength to discharging conjugal duties is eminently challenged by ill-health, coupled with incapacitations in other moral and material wherewithal for the woman.

Coming from the background of the preconditions highlighted, Shari’ah situates a set of time-tested conditions which constitute the significant signposts in a bid to solemnise the intending husband and wife. These conditions remain the thresholds into the noble hall of marriage according to the dictates of the Shari’ah and Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). Hence, no Muslim male or female shall be considered legitimate husband or wife until these critical conditions are essentially considered as fulfilled in the Islamic jurisprudence. These important thresholds are entrenched in the following:

1. Mutual consent must be established between the two individuals (i.e., the intending couple) who should say their words of consent in clear terms to express satisfaction on physical features such as beauty, complexion, etc, and other endowments found naturally in each other. An attestation of the mutual love and affection should also manifest from both individuals proposing to be man and wife.
2. The two fathers-in-law (i.e., father to the man and father to the woman to be engaged) should acknowledge the relationship that has come to exist between their son and daughter, and give express consent to the union.
3. Nikaah witnesses who should not be less than two individuals from either sides of the couple must testify faithfully to the union being commissioned with the marriage by Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW).
4. Valued gifts as ‘Soddaaqi’ to the woman must be paramount in order that Nikaah is fulfilled in Shari’ah. As paramount as ‘Saddaaqi’ is to Nikaah, it is made exceptionally convenient to redeem by the prospective husband.

Question have been raised (and to which answers have been provided) as to the position of Shari’ah concerning using ring as an offer of ‘Soddaaqi’ to the woman being married. To offer a piece of ring or any piece of item of that nature should not be automatically taken to represent whatever monetary equivalence or value which actual ‘Saddaaqi’ should be worth.

However, accepting a piece of ring or anything of such can only be taken for a provision to make for relief in the face of situational incapacitation on the part of the prospective husband, as other threshold conditions are sufficiently met. Soddaaqi is essentially a valued gift (often in monetary value) solely offered by a man to his woman in Nikaah. Therefore, Sha’ariah does not arrogate a role as eminent as Saddaaqi to an ornament or a ring offered to fill the void in its entirety.

A number of allegories from the Hadith of the Prophet (SAW)  could be cited to justify the conclusion that Soddaaqi for the woman is also payable in value denominators other than money denominations. Sahaba Sayyidina Aliy was recorded to have used his much-valued ‘Utamayyah’ (a kind of fashion robe) to offer Fatimah Bintu Rosulallahi (SAW) her Soddaaqi gift in order to marry her.

Another authentic Hadith through Salilu bn Saadiyy recorded that the Prophet (SAW) had granted a Sahaba who made request to be allowed by the Prophet (SAW) to marry a woman who had demanded to become Rosul’s wife. The Prophet (SAW) asked the man: ‘With what will you redeem the Soddaaqi on her?’ The man  replied the Prophet (SAW), confessing that he was too wretched to afford a dime on the woman as Saddaaqi.

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