Assalaamu alaikum,
There are some people who wonder whether they can marry someone for immigration or residency reasons. Sometimes a sum of money is offered to a potential spouse… and sometimes a person will marry with this intention without telling the other person involved that it is only a temporary marriage of convenience.
In the past (and even now) there are scholars who have thought that this practice is acceptable. I suspect that such scholars have not a clear understanding of the realities that (mostly) women are facing, nor the pain children feel when their family lives are destroyed when the husbands decide to get rid of women they do not truly consider their wives, nor of the devastation that occurs to the Muslim community where these practices are occurring, nor the terrible reputation this gives Islam in the minds of our young Muslim women, and the non-Muslim community at large.
Fortunately, there have been scholars who have clearly seen the terrible implications and effects that such false and deceitful marriages can bring, and they have been speaking out. So
for anyone out there who is contemplating such a marriage… I invite you to read the following fatawa. And for any person who is entering into a marriage that brings the benefit of immigration or residency to the spouse… I'd suggest finding ways to protect yourself (you might want to check out this post:
http://www.islamicboard.com/family-a...ml#post2846969), in case your spouse is not truly looking for a wife to spend his life with and be the mother of his cherished children.
May Allah Reward
Signor who researched this point and found/wrote the following (though I've edited it a bit):
Here is a Fatwa issued by
Sheikh Faisal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, who states:
"Marriage with the intention of divorce is not permissible. However, if one has this intention at the time of contracting the marriage then the marriage itself is valid but the intention is invalid and corrupt and one should renounce it. I find no reason for this intention as the Shari`ah gives the husband the right to divorce the wife if there is a valid reason for terminating the marriage whether he had this intention to divorce from the very beginning or not.
There is no need for or benefit in this intention and I advise any Muslim living in the West to abide by the Shari`ah rulings and do not have the intention of divorce at all as long as he can end the marriage if there is a valid reason for doing so."
I am going to list you how the various madhabs see it.
From Islamqa and others which support a more conservative point of view:
Whatever the case, marrying with the intention of getting divorced is haraam, and it may be either invalid in and of itself like mut’ah, or haraam because of the deceit and betrayal involved.
http://islamqa.info/en/111841
A related fatwa is
http://islamqa.info/en/91962 also supports the same view.
You can also look at the fatwa of
Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Uthaymeen from his official website
http://www.fatwaislam.com/fis/index.cfm?scn=fd&ID=571
And then
Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan who doesn't fall under islamqa umbrella.
http://www.madeenah.com/marriage-wit...on-to-divorce/
Then we have
islamweb which ends on the same note:
we conclude that doing so is a kind of cheating and deceiving a woman that could cause many harms. For this reason Imam Malik said: 'This practice does not suit the character of the Muslims at all'. Cheating is not permissible whether it is practised with a Muslim woman or a non-Muslim woman.Therefore, we support the opinion of the Hanbali scholars who do not permit this kind of marriage too since it contradicts the motives of a marriage.
http://articles.islamweb.com/emainpa...twaId&Id=83457
The Hanbalis
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said:
“The widespread opinion among the Hanbalis is that that is forbidden and that the contract is void.”
fatwaislam.com
We asked Shaykh Muhammad al-`Amwaawi, a Maliki scholar, and he stated that the relied upon position of the Malikis is that such a marriage is valid but impermissible, which is the same view that I have outlined above.
The Shafi’is
Imam an-Nawawi quoted Imam Malik as well as Imam al-Awzaa’ee, another Maliki scholar, declaring that although the Nikah contract was valid, the act itself was detestable and hated.
The Hanafis
Mufti Ebrahim Desai said:
If a temporary marriage is conducted without any statement of time limit, the marriage will be (considered by the law) a permanent one. However, the parties will have to change their intention and be committed to a permanent marriage. They cannot deliberately enter into a marriage with the intention of being temporary partners. If they do so, they will be abusing the sacred institution of Nikah against the purpose it was established for.
Ask-Imam.com
http://www.chiite.fr/en/mutah_17.html
Despite of quoting outside links, the source above is a Shia website but you can check the fatwa by running it through google and how frequently it has been used. Also it can be inter-checked comparing it with other websites dealing with same issue.
Marrying With the Intent of Divorce
Is it allowed for a man in any circumstance to marry a woman while having the intent to divorcing her later on? What are classical opinions on this issue?
Walaikum assalam,
Temporary marriage, which is a marriage in which a time limit has been specified in the marriage contract [=normally, the spoken offer and acceptance (ijab & qabul)], is invalid, because it is essentially the mut`a marriage that has been explicitly prohibited by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). [See attached answer.]
This is because it is a condition of marriage that it be unconditioned by time limits, as mentioned by Imam Kasani in his Bada'i` al-Sana'i` [2.273] and others. [cf: Shafi`i: Shirbini/Nawawi, Mughni al-Muhtaj Sharh al-Minhaj 4.231. Hanbali: Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina`, 5.96-97. Maliki: Dardir/Dasuqi Hashiyat al-Dasuqi `ala al-Sharh al-Kabir, 2.238-239. Hanafi: Haskafi/Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar `ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 3.51-52 ]
As for when there is no explicitly specified time limit, but the man intends to divorce some time in the future, there are two issues to consider:
1) Validity and permissibility;
2) Appropriateness.
I. Validity and Permissibility
The position of the majority of scholars is that a marriage in which the husband had a prior intent of future divorce is valid.
It is mentioned in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, the great Hanafi reference work commissioned by the righteous Moghul sultan Aurangzeb (1618-1707),
"If someone marries without condition, and is in their intention to remain with her for a time that he intends [f: and then to divorce her], then the marriage is valid, as mentioned [by Zayla`i] in al-Tabyin." [al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 1.283]
It is mentioned in the Mawsu`a Fiqhiyya, commissioned by the Ministry of Endowments of Kuwait ,
"The Hanafis and Shafi`is both explicitly state that if one marries, and it is in his intention to divorce her after a period of time he has in mind, the marriage is valid.
However, the Shafi`is have stated that such a marriage is disliked, because according to them anything that if explicitly specified [in the contract] would lead to invalidity [of the contract] is disliked to keep within one [as an intention]...
As for the Hanbalis, they have explicitly stated that if a foreign person [f: for example] marries with the intention of divorcing the woman when he travels [f: even without stating it explicitly in the marriage contract itself], then the marriage is invalid, because it is a temporary (mut`a) marriage, which is invalid [f: by explicit primary texts]..." [al-Mawsu`a al-Fiqhiyya, Kuwait ]
II. Appropriateness
Marrying with the intention of divorcing in the future is normally unadvisable:
a) Even the contract itself is invalid according to some scholars, and disliked according to others;
b) It goes against the general purpose of marriage, which is to establish a long-term relationship as a family, as a means of bringing comfort and joy to both spouses and raising righteous Muslim children;
If it entails harm to the wife, without her knowing, this would be a form of deception, which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) blamed in the strongest of words.
Imam Ahmad related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "The believer could be characterized by all traits except lying and deception." [ Ahmad , and Tabarani, Bayhaqi, and Abu Ya`la with similar wording]
And Allah alone gives success.
Walaikum assalam,
Faraz Rabbani.
http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?330-ANSWERED-Marrying-with-the-Intention-of-Divorce
(Note from MuslimInshallah: the quote is from a fatwa from Sunnipath which is now known as Qibla… and the original fatwa no longer seems to be accessible)
For AhlalHadith, this hadith is enough:
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 86, Number 91:
Narrated Muhammad bin 'Ali:
'Ali was told that Ibn 'Abbas did not see any harm in the Mut'a (temporary) marriage. 'Ali said, "Allah's Apostle forbade the Mut'a marriage on the Day of the battle of Khaibar and he forbade the eating of donkey's meat." Some people said, "If one, by a tricky way, marries temporarily, his marriage is illegal." Others said, "The marriage is valid but its condition is illegal."
May Allah, the Judge, Guide us to actions that are clear and pure in their intentions.