while, I have been praying regularly, reading Qur'an, remembering
Allah (dhikr), giving charity and helping people a great deal, and I
am much better, but I feel that the illness is still lurking. Is it
obligatory for me to inform anyone who proposes marriage to me about
that?
Praise be to Allah.
We ask Allah to heal you and grant you well-being. It seems to us that
this illness is not real. If we assume that it is real, then we would
say: if this illness would not have any impact on married life or on
raising children, then there is no need to inform a prospective
marriage partner about it. But if it does have some impact, in the
sense that it may result in some problems after marriage that would
prevent you from developing bonds of love and creating a tranquil
home, then you must tell him about that, because concealing it would
be a kind of deceit. It is proven that deceit is forbidden in general
terms from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with
him), according to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever deceives (people) does not belong
to me." Narrated by Muslim, 102.
You should not pay any attention to imaginary things with regard to
your illness. Most such things are tricks of the Shaytaan, and are
aimed at preventing you from getting married and keeping yourself
chaste.
The basic guidelines with regard to informing a suitor about illness
in the prospective wife are as follows:
1.if the sickness will have any impact on married life and will affect
the wife's ability to fulfil her duties towards her husband and
children;
2.if it will be off-putting to the husband because of its appearance or smell;
3.if it is real and permanent, and is not something imagined or
temporary that will disappear with the passage of time or after
marriage.
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:
There is a young woman who is occasionally affected by periods of
insanity, then it goes away again, and she goes back to normal for a
period that may be long or short. Sometimes prospective suitors come
to propose marriage to her, the family finds it difficult to arrange a
marriage for her, because they do not know how to tell the prospective
suitor about the situation and they are very hesitant, which leads to
missing out on the opportunity to get married. Recently the family
have decided that they would rather get her married to a person who
has some kind of disability or other problem, so that it will be
easier for him to accept her. Now there is a potential suitor who is
infertile, and another who is the son of her paternal aunt, who has
proposed to her and has stated that he is aware of her illness. But
the problem is that the mother of this young man – i.e., the paternal
aunt of the girl – has the same sickness, and when we asked the doctor
what he thought about this marriage, he said that he did not recommend
it, because the probability of having children who were affected by
the same illness was great.
My question is: what is the Islamic ruling on such a marriage? If it
turns out that it produces a child who is also ill, will we have the
ones who are responsible for that, as we would have played a role in
bringing about this marriage? Please note that the possibility of
producing children who are also ill is great.
They replied:
You should not prevent the girl from getting married, and you should
give her in marriage to this man who has come to propose to her, and
leave the matter to Allah. You should ignore the doctor's advice which
is based on probability, because marriage serves a purpose for both
parties and protects the girl from the risk of spinsterhood, on
condition that she agrees to marry the man of whom her guardian
approves for her.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh 'Abd ar-Razzaaq 'Afeefi, Shaykh
'Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh 'Abd
al-'Azeez Aal ash-Shaykh.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 18/194
They were also asked:
If a girl has a problem in the uterus or with her menstrual cycle that
requires treatment which may delay any chance of bearing children,
should the suitor be told about that?
They replied:
If this problem is something temporary, something that happens to
women then disappears, then it is not necessary to tell the suitor
about it. But if this problem is a serious disease or it is not a
minor, temporary problem, and the proposal comes when she still has
this problem and has not been healed of it, then in that case her
guardian must inform the suitor of it. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez Aal-ash-Shaykh, Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan
al-Fawzaan,Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 19/15
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen was asked:
There is a man who proposed marriage to a woman, but it is known that
this woman has a physical defect, which is hidden and not obvious, and
there is the hope that it may be cured, like leprosy and vitiligo.
Should the suitor be told about that?
He replied:
If a man proposes marriage to a woman, and she has a hidden defect,
and there are people who know about it, then if the suitor asks about
her, it is obligatory to disclose it. This is quite clear. But if he
does not ask, then he should be told about it because this comes under
the heading of sincere advice, especially if it is something that
there is no hope of it going away. But if there is hope of it going
away, then this is easier. However there are things that may go away,
but they go away slowly, such as leprosy for example – if it is true
that it may go away, but up till now we know nothing to suggest that
it may go away. So there is a difference between that which it is
hoped will go away soon and that which it is hoped will go away later
on. End quote.
Liqaa'aat al-Baab al-Maftooh, 5/ question no. 22.
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