ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Muta', Temporary Marriage in Islamic Law Permanent Marriage In Islam the word most commonly employed for marriage is nikah, which means literally 'sexual intercourse'. As a legal term it denotes the situation resulting from a particular contract, entered into by a man and a woman, by which sexual intercourse between them becomes legitimate in the eyes of God and society.

The only other mode of legitimizing this sexual relationship is by a man's purchasing a female slave, but this is a complicated discussion that cannot concern us here. Marriage as a legal institution is defined and described in terms of a number of 'pillars' (arkan) and 'statutes' (ahkam), which are discussed in what follows. The pillars are those elements of the marriage contract whose absence nullifies the contract. The statutes are the rules and regulations that govern the contract.

A brief account will also be given of certain other legal points relating to marriage, namely divorce, the waiting period, forswearing, sworn allegation, zihar, and inheritance. I. The Pillars of the Marriage Contract Marriage has a set number of pillars, two according to the Shi’a , three according to the Malikis and Hanafis, and four according to the Hanbalis and Shafi'is. All schools agree on the first two pillars, 'formula' and 'persons'. A.

The Formula (sigha) Marriage is legalized by a contract (' aqd), which, like all other contracts in Islam, consists of a declaration (ijab) and an acceptance (qabul). The woman declares that she is entering into a relationship of marriage with the man, and he accepts her as his wife. The schools differ as to the exact words that may be employed in the woman's declaration.

The Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that a formula derived from the words 'I have married you' (ankahtu-ka) or 'I have espoused you' (zawwajtu-ka) are valid. The Malikis maintain that if the amount of the dower to be paid to the wife (see II A below) has been specified, the woman may also say 'I give myself to you' (wahabtu-ka) [^1] . The Shi’a do not include the verb 'to give', but they add the formula, 'I surrender myself to your pleasure' (matta'tu-ka).

[^2] The Hanafi School is the freest in respect of the formula, allowing any number of expressions to be employed, and even certain indirect formulas. All schools agree that the man may show his acceptance by employing any word which denotes his satisfaction with the contract.