Islamic marital jurisprudence

In Islamic law (sharia), marriage (nikāḥ نکاح) is a legal and social contract between two people, and as an act of Islam^[1] it is strongly recommended in the religion.^[2]^[3]

A nikāḥ marriage has a number of requirements and restrictions under shariah (holy law),^[2] or at least fiqh, rooted in the Quran and sunnah.. Amongst them are that a gift known as mahr be given by the groom to the bride; that the bride, groom and guardian for the bride (wali), give their legal consent to the marriage and not be coerced; that there be two witnesses from both sides to the signing or accepting of the contract; that the bride and groom not be of the same gender,^[4] not be brother and sister, mother or father, aunt or uncle, or other relatives,^[5] but may be first cousins;^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] that the man not have more than four wives at any one time, and the woman more than one husband;^[11]

^ "The Quran, sura 4, verse 4". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
^ ^a ^b "Importance of Marriage in Islam". Islamic Marriage Handbook. al-islam.org. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
^ "Muslim character. Marriage is the Prophet's sunnah". onislam.net. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
^ Cite error: The named reference Umar-AI-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference ghamid-mizan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference IQA-cousin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference IWN-cousins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Balanced Perspective was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Siddiqi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Nassar-view was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Women in polygamous marriages suffering psychological torture - Arab News". Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

[1] "The Quran, sura 4, verse 4". www.perseus.tufts.edu.

[islamic-marriage-syed-athar-husain-sh-rizvi-2] "Importance of Marriage in Islam". Islamic Marriage Handbook. al-islam.org. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2025.

[onislam.net-3] "Muslim character. Marriage is the Prophet's sunnah". onislam.net. Retrieved 20 April 2023.

[Umar-AI-2022-4] Cite error: The named reference Umar-AI-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ghamid-mizan-5] Cite error: The named reference ghamid-mizan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[IQA-cousin-6] Cite error: The named reference IQA-cousin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[IWN-cousins-7] Cite error: The named reference IWN-cousins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Balanced_Perspective-8] Cite error: The named reference Balanced Perspective was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Siddiqi-9] Cite error: The named reference Siddiqi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Nassar-view-10] Cite error: The named reference Nassar-view was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[11] "Women in polygamous marriages suffering psychological torture - Arab News". Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

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