I

I
CFAIUNI
ntr
oduct
Mar ri
i
VERSI
on
TY,
DEHRADUN
ageunderI slam i
samat ri
moni alr
elati
onandani nsti
tuti
onwhi chlegal i
zes
thesex ualact i
vi
tiesbetweenamal eandf emalef ortheobjectofpr ocr
eat i
onof
kids,pr omot i
on ofl ove,mut ualsuppor tand cr eati
on off amili
eswhi ch are
consider edanessent i
alunitinasoci ety.Justl i
keHi nduism,Isl
am i sal soa
strongadv ocateofmar r
iage.Howev er,t
heMusl im concepti
onofmar ri
agedi ff
ers
from t heHi nduconcept i
onaccor dingt owhi chmar r
iagei snotamer ecivi
l
contractbutasacr ament.Accordingmanyphi losophers,marri
agei nIslam isa

15/
r
ki
04/
eli
2022
gi
dsl
ousdut
egal l
y.
y .Everyonemustmar r
yi nordertofulfi
lone’
sdesi r
eofpr ocreati
onof

Muslimlawhasbeender ivedfrom variouscodif

iedanduncodifiedsourcesl i
ke-
Pr
oj
Qurecton
an,I
jma,Qi y
as,customs,ur f,precedents,equit
yandv ar
iousl egi
slat
ions.
Thereare4maj orsunnischooloft houghts-hanif
a,hamabli,malikiandshaf ai
.
Thesefourschoolsrecognizeeachot her’
sv ali
dit
yandt heyhav einter
actedi n
l
egaldebat
eov erthecent
uries.I
nIndia,Hanif
aschool ofI
slamiclawi sdominant.

"
Mar
ri
ageamongmohammedans"

Thegener
alessent
ial
sofaMusl
i
m Ni
qahar
e:

Par
ti
esmusthav
ecapaci
tyt
omar
ry.

Pr
oposal
(ij
ab)andaccept
ance(
qubool
).

Fr
eeconsentofbot
hthepar
ti
es.

Aconsi
der
ati
on(
mehr
).

Nol
egal
Impedi
ment
.

Suf
fi
cientwi
tnesses(
dif
fer
enti
nshi
aandsunni
).
Submi t
tedby
-. Submitt
edto-
Chir
agYadav. AshishSinghal
20FLICDDN02084. (Facul
tyAssociat
e)
CLASSI
FICATI
SchoolofLaw
Facul
tyofLaw
I
NTRODUCTI
ON

MARRI
AGE UNDER I
SLAM I
S A MATRI
MONI
AL RELATI
ON AND AN

I
NSTI
TUTI
ONWHI
CHLEGALI
ZESTHESEXUALACTI
VITI
ESBETWEENAMALE

ANDFEMALEFORTHEOBJECTOFPROCREATI
ONOFKI
DS,PROMOTI
ONOF

LOVE, MUTUAL SUPPORT AND CREATI

ON OF FAMI
LIES WHI
CH ARE

CONSI
DEREDANESSENTI
ALUNI
TINASOCI
ETY.JUSTLI
KEHI
NDUI
SM,
ISLAM

I
S ALSO A STRONG ADVOCATE OF MARRI
AGE.HOWEVER,THE MUSLI
M

CONCEPTI
ON OF MARRI
AGE DI
FFERS FROM THE HI
NDU CONCEPTI
ON

ACCORDI
NGTOWHI
CH MARRI
AGEI
SNOTAMERECI
VILCONTRACTBUTA

SACRAMENT.ACCORDI
NGMANYPHI
LOSOPHERS,MARRI
AGEI
NISLAM I
SA

RELI
GIOUS DUTY.EVERYONE MUST MARRY I
N ORDER TO FULFI
L ONE’
S

DESI
REOFPROCREATI
ONOFKI
DSLEGALLY.

Muslimlawhasbeenderivedf
rom variouscodif
iedanduncodi
fiedsour
cesl i
ke-
Quran,I
jma,Qi
yas,customs,urf
,pr ecedents,equi
tyandv ar
iouslegi
slat
ions.
Therear
e4majorsunnischool
ofthought s-

hani
fa,
hamabl
i
,mal
i
kiandshaf
ai.

Thesefourschool
srecognizeeachother
’sval
idi
tyandtheyhavei
nter
act
edin
l
egaldebateovert
hecentur
ies.I
nIndi
a,Hanif
aschoolofI
slami
clawi
sdominant
.
Thegener
alessent
ial
sofaMusl
im Ni
qahar
e:

 Par
ti
esmusthav
ecapaci
tyt
omar
ry.

 Pr
oposal
(ij
ab)andaccept
ance(
qubool
).

 Fr
eeconsentofbot
hthepar
ti
es.

 Aconsi
der
ati
on(
mehr
).

 Nol
egal
Impedi
ment
.

 Suf
fi
cientwi
tnesses(
dif
fer
enti
nshi
aandsunni
).

OCLASSI
FICATI
ONOFMARRI
AGE-

Val
id(
sahi
h)
Mar
ri
age-
When allthe l
egalrequi
rements arefulf
il
led and t
her e ar
e no prohi
biti
ons
af
fecti
ngthepart
ies,t
henthemarriageiscorrector‘
sahih’
.Theprohibi
ti
onscan
bepermanentaswel last empor
ar y
,incaseof per manentpr ohi
biti
ons:the
marri
agewillbevoidandiftheprohibi
ti
onsar etemporarythenthemar r
iageis
i
rr
egular.

Ef
fect
sofav
ali
dmar
ri
age

 Thecohabi
tat
ionbet
weent
hehusbandandt
hewi
febecomes
l
awful
.

 Thechi
l
drenbor
noutofav
ali
dmar
ri
agear
elegi
ti
mat
eandt
hey
hav
eri
ghtt
oinher
itt
hei
rpar
ent
’spr
oper
ti
es.

 Mut
ualr
ight
s of i
nher
it
ance bet
ween husband and wi
fe ar
e
establ
i
shed.Thati
stosay
,aft
erthedeathofthehusband,t
hewif
e
i
sent i
tl
edtoinher
itt
hehusband’spr
opert
iesandafterthewi
fe’
s
death,
husbandmayalsoi
nher
itherpr
opert
ies.
  Pr
ohibit
ed rel
ati
onshipfor pur
poses of marri
age is creat
ed
bet
weent hehusbandandwi f
eandeachoft hem i
spr ohi
bit
edto
marrytherel
ati
onsoftheot
herwit
hinpr
ohibi
teddegrees.

 Thewi
fe’
sri
ghtt
ocl
aim doweri
sful
l
yest
abl
i
shedj
ustaf
tert
he
compl
eti
onofmar
ri
age.

 Themar
ri
agegi
vest
othewi
feal
sot
her
ightofmai
ntenancef
rom
herhusbandwi
thi
mmedi
ateef
fect
.

 Af
tert
hedi
ssol
uti
onoft
hemar
ri
age,
thewi
dowort
hedi
vor
cedwi
fe
i
sunderanobl
i
gat
iont
oobser
vet
heI
ddat
,dur
ingwhi
chshecannot
r
emarry
.

CASELAW-

 Gul
am Kubr
aBi
biVs.
Mohd.Shaf
iMohd.Di
nAI
R1940Peshwar4

Inthi
scaseagi r
laged17y earswasgi veni
nmar r
iagebyhergrandfat
her
andherconsentwasnott aken.Therewasnoadultwitnesstotest
if
ythat
theconsentofgirlwasdulyobt ai
ned.Thehusbandint hi
scasewant ed
theresti
tut
ionofconjugalri
ghtswhi l
ethewifesaidthatshewasnev er
mar r
iedtothepetiti
oner
.Ast hegirlwasamaj orandherconsentwas
necessary,
thecourthel
dthatnov al
idmarri
agehadtakenplace.

 Mohi
uddi
nVs.
Khat
ij
abi
bi1920Bom.
LR41

Whereconsenttothemar r
iagehasnotbeenobt
ained,consummati
on
(
sexualint
ercour
se)agai
nstthewil
loft
hewomanwi l
lnotvali
dat
ethe
marr
iage.

Voi
d
(
Bat
il
)
Themarr
iagebei
ngvoidabini
ti
ocr eat
esnor i
ght
sorobligat
ionsandt
hechil
dren
bor
noutofsuchmar ri
ageareil
legit
imate.Amarri
ageforbi
ddenbytherul
esof
bl
oodrel
ati
onshi
p,af
fi
nityorf
osterageisvoi
d.Si
milar
ly,
amar ri
agewi
ththewife
ofanot
heroradi
vor
cedwi
fedur
ingi
ddahper
iodi
sal
sov
oid.

CASELAWS-

 Rashi
dAhmadVs.
Ani
saKhat
oon193159I
LR21

⠀⠀I twassaidthatamar ri
agewiththewi
feofanot herorr
emarri
agewitha
divor
cedwife,whenlegalbarst
il
lexi
stsi
sv oi
d.I
nt hecaseofvoidmarr
iage,
parti
eshavenost at
usofhusbandandwi fe.I
foneoft hem orbothoft
hem
takeanot
herspouse,theoff
enceofbi
gamywi l
lnotbecommi t
ted.

 Azi
zunni
ssaVs.
Kar
imuni
ssa18952Cal
.130

I
twasheldthatt
hemarr
iageofamanwi
thhi
swi
fe'
ssi
ster
,hi
swi
febei
ng
undi
vor
cedandal
iv
ewasnull
andvoi
d.

I
rr
egul
ar
(
Fasi
d)
Duet olackofsomef or
malit
y,ortheexi
stenceofani mpedimentwhichcanbe
recti
fi
ed,a mar r
iage becomes irr
egul
ar,Howev er
,t hisirregul
ari
tyis not
permanenti n natur
e and can be r
emoved.Thus,t he marri
age it
selfisnot
unlawful.I
tcanbemadev ali
doncet heprohibi
ti
onsarerectifi
ed.Marri
agein
suchcircumstancesorwithfol
lowi
ngprohi
biti
onsarecall
ed‘Fasid’
.

 Amar
ri
agecont
ract
edwi
thoutr
equi
rednumberofwi
tnesses;

 Amar
ri
agewi
thwomendur
ingherI
ddatper
iod;

 Amar
ri
agewi
thwomenwi
thoutt
heconsentofherguar
dianwhen
suchconsenti
sconsi
der
ednecessar
y;

 Amar
ri
agepr
ohi
bit
edonaccountofdi
ff
erenceofr
eli
gion;

 A mar
ri
agewi
thawomanwhoi
spr
egnant
,whent
hepr
egnancy
wasnotcausedbyadul
ter
yorf
orni
cat
ion;
  Amar
ri
agewi
thaf
if
thwi
fe.

CASELAWS-

 ChandPat
elVs.Bi
smi
l
lahBegum 20081DLJ588SC

Ther evi
sionalcourtheldt hatthepersonallaw oftheparti
escouldnot
comei nthewayofaMusl imt oprayforandobtainmai nt
enanceu/s125
Cr.P.
C.sinceanobl i
gati
oni scastupont heappell
anthereintomaintai
n
hiswifeandchildrentil
lthemar r
iagebetweenthem wasdeclarednul
land
voidbyacompet entcour t.Thebarofunl awfulconjuncti
onrender
sa
mar r
iageirr
egularnotvoid.

Mut
aMar
ri
age-
Thet erm li
terall
ymeans“ pl
easuremar ri
age”.Mut amar r
iagei sat emporary
agreementf oralimit
edtimeperiod,uponwhi chboththepar ti
esagreed.Thereis
nopr escr
ibedmi nimum ormaxi mum timel imit,i
tcanbef oraday ,amont hor
year(
s).Themar ri
agedissolv
esitsel
faftert heexpirat
ionoft hedecidedper i
od,
howev erifnosucht imelimitwasexpr essedorwr i
tten,themar ri
agewi l
lbe
presumedper manent .Thi
st y
peofmar r
iagei sseenaspr osti
tut
ionbyt heSunni
Muslimsandt hus,i
snotapprovedbySunni s.

Howev er,iti s considered l egit

imate by t he Twelv erShi a sect,whi ch is
predominanti nI r
anandconst i
tut
es90% ofI ndia’
sShi apopulation.InIran,the
wordmut ’ahi sonlyf r
om t i
met oti
meut i
lizedandt hispr acti
ceiscal l
ed‘sigah’
.
Ther ul
esf orsigahar efi
x edf oreg-thecont ractfortempor arymar r
iagecanbe
attr
actedforonehourt o99y ears;i
tcan’tbef orani ndeter
mi nateperiod.This
provi
siondi sti
nguishesmut ’af r
om nikahorl astingmar ri
age,whi chhasnot i
me
l
imit.Howev er
,justli
keinni kah,insi
gaht oo,t hebri
demustgetsomemonet ary
benefit
.

Nowi tnessesar er equi

redf ormut ’
ah.Andj ustlikeinanyot hercontr
act,the
womanbei ngapar tycanlaydowncondi t
ionsforhersexualuni onthroughout
thi
st i
me l i
mi t
,t hi
s can also incl
ude herdai l
ymai nt
enance.Hert emporary
husbandmustr espectthesecondi t
ions.Themar r
iageaut omati
cal
lydi
ssolvesat
theendoft hestatedperiod.Nomat terhowshor tt hedurati
onwas,thewoman
hastopr acti
ceabst i
nencelasti
ngupt ot womenst rual cy
cles.
I
nterest
ingpar ti
sthat
,thet emporaryhusbandandwi f
ecanrenewt hecontr
act
butthehusbandmustr egardl
essoft hi
spayt heamounttothebride.Husband
hasauni l
ateralr
ightt
or evokethemar ri
age-
mar kofhi
ssuperi
orpositi
oninthe
rel
ati
onship.Butthewomancanr ef
uset obeinti
matewit
hhim orevenleav
ehim,
butinsuchcase,shemustr etur
nbackt heamountsherecei
vedfrom hi
m.

Indiaisacount r
yt hathaspart
iall
yapprovedli
ve-i
nrelati
onships;Howev er,i
twi l
l
sti
llbequi t
ediff
icultfort
heSupremeCour tt
oconst i
tut
ionall
yinv al
idatethi
sf orm
ofmar riage.Inmoder ndayera,wherefeministsallacrosst hegl obeseet his
arrangementequi v al
entto pr
ostit
uti
on.Therear e manyadv ocatesofNi kah
mut ’
ahwhobel i
evet hatbei
ngacontract,
thi
sar r
angementi ssuper iortothelive-
i
nr elat
ionships.

Regi
str
ati
on ofMar
ri
age
underMusl
iml
aw-
Registrat
ionofmar r
iageinMuslimsi scompul soryandmandat ory,asaMusl im
marriage istreated as a civi
lcont ract
.Accor ding to secti
on 3 ofMusl im
MarriagesRegi str
ationAct1981-“Ev erymarri
agecont r
actedbet weenMusl ims
aft
ert hecommencementoft hi
sAct ,shal
lber egister
edasher einafterprovi
ded,
wit
hint hi
rtyday sfrom theconcl
usionoft heNi kahCer emony ”
.Ni kahnamai sa
ty
pe ofl egaldocumenti n Musli
m mar ri
ages whi ch contai
ns t he essenti
al
conditi
ons/detail
soft hemarri
age.

Accor
dingt
othi
sact
,aNi
kahnamacont
ains:

 Pl
aceofmar
ri
age(
wit
hsuf
fi
cientpar
ti
cul
arst
olocat
ethePl
ace.
)

 Ful
lnameoft
hebr
idegr
oom

 Age

 Addr
ess

 Ful
lnameofbr
idegr
oom’
sfat
her

 Whet
herf
atheri
sal
i
veordead

 Ci
vi
lcondi
ti
onoft
hebr
idegr
oom att
het
imeofmar
ri
agewhet
her–
Unmarr
iedWi
dowerDi
vor
cedMar
ri
ed,andi
fso,how manywi
ves
ar
eali
ve
  Si
gnat
ureort
humbi
mpr
essi
onoft
hebr
idegr
oom/
Vaki
l
/Guar
dian
accor
dingastheNikahwasperf
ormedi
nper
sonbyt
hebr
idegr
oom
orthr
oughhisVaki
lorGuar
dian

 Ful
lnameofNi
kah-
Khan(
thati
stheper
sonconduct
ingt
heNi
kah
Cer
emony
.)

 Si
gnat
ure oft
he Ni
kah-
Khan (
i.
e per
son conduct
ing t
he Ni
kah
Cer
emonywi
thdat
e.)

 Amountofdowerf
ixed

 Mannerofpay
mentofdower

 Nameofwi
tnesseswi
thpar
ent
age,
resi
denceandaddr
ess

CONCLUSI
ON-
Thenot i
onsofMut amar r
iagecanbeev ident
lyseeni nourcount ry.InIndi a,
tempor ar
ymar ri
ageisnotr ecognized,alt
hought hereexistsfew whocont ract
Mut amar ri
agebutsuchmar ri
agesar enotenf orceabl
ei ncourt.Hyderabadi s
consideredtobet heepi centreoft hepracticewher emarriagecanbei nsti
tuted
fortimespanasshor tasoneort woday s.InaHy derabadcasei twasheldt hat
thereisnodi f
ferencebet weenmut af oranunspecifiedper
iodandamut aforl i
fe;
aper manentni kahmar r
iagef orli
fecanbecont ractedbyt heuseofwor dmut a
also;specif
icati
onoft heper i
odforwhi chamut amar ri
agei scontr
actedal one
makesamar r
iageat empor ar ymarriagefortheperiodspecifi
ed.

Thepr acti
ceofTempor ary“Mut a”marri
agei swi despreadinthemoder ntimes
andoftenar rangedbyI mamsandot herIsl
ami cleadersinEurope,Amer i
ca( Shia
part
sofDear born,Michi
gan),andintheMi ddleeast.Itiscommonl ythedest i
tute
widowsandor phanedgirl
sthatar ewi t
hinthecl utchesoftempor arymar ri
age
whoar eof t
ensol dtooldmen.Fort hewomen, thereisnodesireorpleasur ethat
dri
vest hem intosuchmi sery;itist
heext rememeanst opayt herentandf eed
themselves and t heirchi
ldr
en.As a r esult
,t hi
s ar r
angementhas r eceived
widespreadcr i
tici
sm byvari
ouscount ri
esasi timpli
edlyencouraginglegali
zat i
on
ofprostit
uti
on.

Theconf li
ctsovertheri
ghtsofminori
tywomenarebestdealtwithbycr eat
ing
new represent
ati
v ebodi
eswhichhavespeci
alprov
isionstoensur
et hatwomen
aresuf f
ici
entl
yr epr
esented.I
ntheShahBano case,t hiswould havemeant
creat
inganewmechani sm toadmi
nist
erMusli
m personall
awinsteadofsimply
recognizi
ngtheMusl i
m Per sonalLaw Boardast helegi
ti
mater epresent
ati
veof
theMusl im communi t
y.Cr eati
nganew mechani sm ismor esensi t
ivetothe
poli
ti
calreali
tyofMuslimsinI ndia,whi
chisthattheyconsistofwi del
ydisper
sed
groups characteri
zed by signif
icantdif
ferences.Itwoul d al
so make some
provi
siont oensurethatMusl im womenhav esomeaccesst ot heinst
it
uti
ons
whichmaket her ul
eswhichgov ernthei
rli
ves.