Marriage in Islam

In Islam, nikah (Arabic: نِكَاح, romanized: nikāḥ) is a contract exclusively between a man and woman. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper^[1] – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some executed by a husband personally and some executed by a religious court on behalf of a plaintiff wife who is successful in her legal divorce petition for valid cause. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women (a practice known as polygyny).

In addition to the usual marriage until death or divorce, there is a different fixed-term marriage known as zawāj al-mut'ah ("temporary marriage")^[2]^: 1045 permitted only by the Twelver branch of Shi'ite for a pre-fixed period.^[3]^[4]^: 242^[5] There is also Nikah Misyar, a non-temporary marriage with the removal of some conditions such as living together, permitted by some Sunni scholars.^[6]^[7]^[8]

^ "Getting Married". Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
^ Wehr, Hans. Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: a compact version of the internationally recognized fourth edition. Ed. JM Cowan. New York: Spoken Language Services, Inc., 1994. Archived 2017-06-19 at the Wayback Machine. Print.
^ Berg, H. "Method and theory in the study of Islamic origins". Archived 2016-05-09 at the Wayback Machine Brill 2003 ISBN 9004126023, 9789004126022. Accessed at Google Books 15 March 2014.
^ Hughes, T. "A Dictionary of Islam." Archived 2016-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Asian Educational Services 1 December 1995. Accessed 15 April 2014.
^ Pohl, F. "Muslim world: modern Muslim societies". Archived 2016-06-24 at the Wayback Machine Marshall Cavendish, 2010. ISBN 0761479279, 1780761479277. pp. 47–53.
^ "Misyar now a widespread reality". Arab News. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. In a misyar marriage the woman waives some of the rights she would enjoy in a normal marriage. Most misyar brides don't change their residences but pursue marriage on a visitation basis.
^ Elhadj, Elie (2006). The Islamic Shield: Arab Resistance to Democratic and Religious Reforms. Universal Publishers. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-59942-411-8.
^ "Misyar Marriage". Al-Raida (92–99). Beirut University College, Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World: 58. 2001.

[1] "Getting Married". Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-04.

[2] Wehr, Hans. Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: a compact version of the internationally recognized fourth edition. Ed. JM Cowan. New York: Spoken Language Services, Inc., 1994. Archived 2017-06-19 at the Wayback Machine. Print.

[IslamicOrigins-3] Berg, H. "Method and theory in the study of Islamic origins". Archived 2016-05-09 at the Wayback Machine Brill 2003 ISBN 9004126023, 9789004126022. Accessed at Google Books 15 March 2014.

[IslamDictionary-4] Hughes, T. "A Dictionary of Islam." Archived 2016-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Asian Educational Services 1 December 1995. Accessed 15 April 2014.

[Pohl_(2010)-5] Pohl, F. "Muslim world: modern Muslim societies". Archived 2016-06-24 at the Wayback Machine Marshall Cavendish, 2010. ISBN 0761479279, 1780761479277. pp. 47–53.

[6] "Misyar now a widespread reality". Arab News. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. In a misyar marriage the woman waives some of the rights she would enjoy in a normal marriage. Most misyar brides don't change their residences but pursue marriage on a visitation basis.

[7] Elhadj, Elie (2006). The Islamic Shield: Arab Resistance to Democratic and Religious Reforms. Universal Publishers. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-59942-411-8.

[8] "Misyar Marriage". Al-Raida (92–99). Beirut University College, Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World: 58. 2001.

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