Shighaar marriages
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Salaams. Can you shed some light on Shighaar
marriages.Are such marriges allowed even if dower is paid although the real
intention or conditon is the exchange of grooms
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
Shighaar marriages
In the name of Allah,
We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah
Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the
seal of His Messengers.
Sahih Al-Bukhari
Hadith 9.90B Narrated by Abdullah
Nafi narrated to me
that 'Abdullah said that Allah's Messenger (saws) forbade the Shighar
(marriage). I asked Nafi', "What is the Shighar?" He said, "It
is to marry the daughter (or sister) of a man and marry one's daughter (or
sister) to that man (at the same time) without ‘Mehr’.
Sahih Muslim Hadith
3299 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah
Allah's Messenger
(saws) prohibited Shighar (marriage). Ibn Numayr added: ‘Shighar means that a
person should say to the other person: “Give me the hand of your daughter (or
sister) in marriage and I will (in return) marry my daughter (or sister) to
you.”’
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
specifically forbade the ‘Shighar’ marriage where the intention was merely the
exchange of grooms. The absolute
majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that ‘Shighar’
marriages are unlawful, regardless of whether the ‘mehr’ is paid or not. And Allah Alone Knows Best.
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me alone. Allah Alone
Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan