Marriage Contract, - * The marriage contract is not valid if the man’s sister asks for the hand of the woman for her brother, in the presence of the woman’s guardian

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The sister of a young man told me over the Internet that her brother wanted to ask for my hand in marriage, and after consulting my parents, they let me choose, so I agreed and I told the young man that I agreed, but I stipulated some conditions before that. Then after that, that young man came with his parents and his sister, and his sister asked for my hand, mentioning me by name, for her brother, mentioning him by name, in the presence of his parents and my parents, and my father responded by saying that the girl is your daughter. According to our traditions, we give the answer a few days later for the purpose of confirmation, so they called us and we told them that we had not changed our minds.
Does this count as a marriage contract? Please note that we will document it as a civil contract in three months’ time.
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Praise be to Allah.
If the matter happened as mentioned in the question, then the marriage contract has not yet been done, for two reasons:
1. it is not sufficient, with regard to a marriage contract, for the families of the spouses only to be present; rather it is essential to have the proposal, which refers to words to be spoken by the woman’s guardian or his deputy, and the acceptance, which refers to words to be spoken by the husband or his deputy, in order for the marriage contract to be valid. It is also stipulated in the marriage contract that the proposal should come before the acceptance, according to the view of a number of scholars. However the majority of scholars do not stipulate that the proposal should come before the acceptance, and this is the correct view.
2. Regardless of whether we say that the proposal must come first or not, the marriage contract cannot be valid on the basis of the man’s sister requesting the woman’s hand in marriage for her brother, even if she specified their names, or even if the wording of the proposal and acceptance for marriage were spoken, because it is not valid for a woman to do the marriage contract either for herself or anyone else.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a person does not have the right to dispose of affairs on his own behalf, it is not valid for him to act as a proxy in such matters, such as a woman with regard to doing the marriage contract or accepting it.
End quote fromal-Mughni(5/52)
It says inal-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah(45/22): It is not permissible to appoint a woman as a proxy for the purpose of marriage according to the majority of fuqaha’, because she cannot give herself in marriage, so she cannot be appointed as a proxy for the purpose of marriage.
Based on that, what you must do now is do the marriage contract first of all, which should be done by the woman’s guardian (her father) or another man whom he appoints as his proxy, and the acceptance must be done by the man or another man whom he appoints as his proxy.
We ask Allah to bring you together on the basis of good.
And Allah knows best.

Marriage Contract, - * If she was forced into marriage and had a child, is the child to be attributed to the husband?

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What are the islamic rulings regarding forced marriages? Is it correct that such a marriage is invalid? If so, what is the status of a child that is born from such a mariage which is then ended through divorce some time after the childs birth? If the marriage was unwanted but brought about due to pressure and threats from a parent, then violence occured throughout the time of marriage, then would a child from such a marriage be considered as legitimate if the marriage contract was itself invalid? If this would be an invalid marriage then is the child considered the same as one being born out of wed lock? On an islamic forum it stated that a person born out of wed lock is to have no relation with their father, is this correct and what is the case if the father is also a relative of the mother? And if this rule is correct then is this rule also applied to a child who came about as a result of an unwanted relationship?
If there are any evidences from the qur'an and sunnah regarding this, it will be greatly appreciated if you could provide them.
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Praise be to Allah
Firstly:
It is not permissible to force a woman to marry someone she does not want, even if she is a virgin, according to the correct fiqhi view, which is the view of the Hanafis, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “and a virgin should not be married until her permission has been sought.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6968) and Muslim (1419).
If the marriage takes place without her consent, then the marriage contract depends upon the woman’s approval. If she approves of it, then it becomes a valid marriage contract, and there is no need to repeat it. But if she does not approve of it, then it is an invalid marriage contract.
It was narrated that Buraydah ibn al-Haseeb said: A young woman came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: My father married me to his brother’s son so that he might raise his own status thereby.
[The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)] gave her the choice, and she said: I approve of what my father did, but I wanted women to know that their fathers have no right to do that.
Narrated by Ibn Maajah (1874); classed as saheeh by al-Buwaysiri inMisbaah az-Zujaajah(2/102). Similarly, Shaykh Muqbil al-Waadi‘i said: It is saheeh according to the conditions of Muslim. End quote fromas-Saheeh al-Musnad(p. 160).
The Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked: What is the Islamic ruling on one who is married off without her consent?
They replied: If she did not agree to this marriage, then her case should be referred to the court to either confirm or annul the marriage contract.
End quote fromFataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah(18/126).
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If we say that the marriage is not valid, then it must be annulled, because it is not valid. But if we assume that the woman met the man and liked him, and she approved of the marriage contract, then there is nothing wrong with that, and the marriage becomes valid based on her approval.
End quote fromal-Liqa’ ash-Shahri(1/343).
Secondly:
If the woman does not approve of the marriage contract, then the marriage is invalid according to the correct scholarly view, as mentioned above. But scholars other than the Hanafis regarded it as valid, so it is a marriage concerning which there is a difference of scholarly opinion.
A number of things result from that:
1. She cannot exit this marriage except by means of divorce (talaaq) or annulment by a judge (qaadi).
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a woman is married on the basis of an invalid marriage contract, it is not permissible for her to marry anyone else until the first husband divorces her or her marriage is annulled. If he refuses to divorce her, then the judge may annul her marriage. This was stated by Ahmad.
End quote fromal-Mughni(7/342),
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The marriage is invalid according to the more sound of the two scholarly opinions, but they may not marry until after (the first husband) has divorced her, or her marriage to him has been annulled by the shar‘i judge, so as to avoid going against those scholars who said that the marriage is valid.
End quote fromMamoo‘ Fataawa Ibn Baaz(20/411).
2. Intercourse in such a marriage is not regarded as zina (fornication), because there is uncertainty about the invalidity of the marriage due to there being a difference of scholarly opinion.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There is no hadd punishment for intercourse in a marriage based on an invalid marriage contract, regardless of whether the partners believe it to be lawful or prohibited. With regard to invalid marriage such as marriage of a woman who is already married or who is observing ‘iddah, and the like, if both parties were aware of what is lawful and what is prohibited, then they are guilty of zina and must be subjected to the hadd punishment, and any child born as a result is not to be attributed to the man.
End quote fromal-Mughni(7/344).
3. Any child who is born from such a marriage is a legitimate child and is to be attributed to the husband.
This is applicable to any invalid marriage concerning which there is a difference of scholarly opinion.
Inal-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah(8/123) it says: The fuqaha’ are agreed that it is obligatory to observe ‘iddah and that any child is to be attributed to the husband, following intercourse in a marriage concerning which there is a difference of opinion among the madhhabs, such as a marriage that was done without witnesses, or without the presence of the woman’s guardian, or marriage of a muhrim (pilgrim in ihram) during Hajj, or shighaar (quid-pro-quo) marriage.
Similarly, they are agreed on the necessity of observing ‘iddah, and that any child born as a result of a marriage concerning which there is consensus that it is invalid is to be attributed to the husband, once intercourse has taken place, such as marriage of a woman who is observing ‘iddah, or marriage to a woman who is married to someone else, or marriage to a mahram (incest), if there is some doubt or confusion that may lead to waiving of the hadd punishment, such as if the parties were not aware of the prohibition, because the basic principle according to the fuqaha’ is that with regard to any invalid marriage in which the hadd punishment could not be carried out, the child is to be attributed to the man. But if there is no doubt or confusion that may lead to waiving of the hadd punishment, such as if they were aware of the prohibition, then according to the majority of scholars the child is not to be attributed to the man. This is also the view of some Hanafi shaykhs, because once the hadd punishment becomes due, the child cannot be attributed to the man. End quote.
Thirdly:
An illegitimate child cannot be attributed to the fornicator according to the majority of fuqaha’, but some fuqaha’ are of the view that if the fornicator acknowledges the child and attributes him to himself, then the child may be attributed to him.
And Allah knows best.