Impediments To A Valid Marriage under Islamic law

1. Introduction:

Islamic law lists down impediments to a valid marriage on grounds of affinity, fosterage,
consanguinity. Al-nisa. Q4:22-24 lays out the prohibited degrees. In general, Islam does not
restrict marriage to any particular class, color, nationality, age, or clan. The women must be
believers and both spouses should be of the same species.

There are degrees of impediments, either permanent or temporary.

Perpetual impediments arise on grounds of consanguinity, fosterage, and affinity and are
absolute.

Temporary impediments arise when a defect within the contract can be removed.

Consanguinity
Prohibited for men are their mothers and her lineal ascendants. daughters and their lineal
descendants, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, nieces. Marriage to any of these will be void.

Imam Shafi' has stated, that marrying to women of nearer kin results in the children being born
weak and sick. Similar impediments apply to women.

Hadith: "A strong believer is superior to a weak believer". This hadith may suggest that children
born from Muslims, should be healthy and therefore, parents must act responsible when
marrying. The men are permitted to look at women, and a hadith narrated by Hazrat Aisha R.A,
says "choose the best for your sperm, and marry compatible women and propose marriage to
them".

Similarly, Imam Ghazali (1058) in his famous book also states that to avoid weak children,
marriage must not be to those of the nearest kin..

Hanbali's hold similar views, that to avoid producing weak children and in the event of
dissolution the family ties being affected, women of farther kin or strangers must be married
with.
Hanafi and Maliki's are silent on this.

Otherwise, marriage to cousins are allowed. The examples Prophet PBUH was married to
Zaynab Jaḥsh his first cousin, and was the daughter of his paternal aunt Umeymah. Faṭimah,
Holy Prophet PBUH's daughter was married to Hazrat Ali, the first cousin of the Prophet.

Rate of consanguineous marriages in different countries, 68% in Egypt, 54.4% in Kuwait, 57.7%
in Saudi Arabia, 50.5% in UAE, 47% in Yemen, 33% in Syria, 58.1% in Jordan, etc. In Pakistan,
as per the Demographic and Health report of 1990, more than half of married women were
married to cousins. Medical studies have revealed, cousin marriages can lead to visual eye
impairments.

A misguided view is that cousin marriages are influenced by Islam, however

Fosterage
A man can not marry his foster mother, sisters as they come within prohibited degree, but he can
marry his sister's foster mother, his foster son's sister, his foster brother's sisters. The Prophet
PBUH is reported to have said in a Sahih hadith, that "She (Umamah) is not permitted for me
That which is forbidden of blood ties is permitted for me. That which is forbidden of blood ties is
forbidden from milk-kinship. She is the daughter of my milk-brother Ḥamzah"

El Alami and Doreen Hinchcliffe have argued that Quran only prohibited to the extent of one's
foster mother and her daughters but jurists have far extended it to cover others, and equated it
with consanguinity ground.

Affinity
A man can't validly marry, under any circumstances,

his wife's mother or grandmother how high so ever, his wife's daughter or grand-daughter from
another marriage.

He can't marry his father's or paternal grandfather's wives.

He cant marry the wives of his sons or daughter's son.

Ground of unlawful conjunction:

A man can't marry two wives at once, who are related by consanguinity, affinity, or fosterage,
such as that the women were of the opposite genders each, they couldn't marry each other.

A man can't marry two sisters at one time or women who are currently married.
Temporary Impediments

Men can't marry women who are already married or are observing the Iddah after divorce or
becoming widows. A man, similarly, can't marry to whom he gave an irrevocable divorce, unless
she went through an intervening marriage (Tahlil/Halala).

The limitation of not marrying to sisters at once can be cured if he divorces the first to marry the
second.

Further impediments

Impediment arises when a man married to four can't marry the fifth, unless he divorces one of the
four.

A Muslim man can marry a Jewish or Christian woman, but women can only marry Muslim
men, unless non-Muslim convert to Islam. The non-Hanafi schools hold, a marriage without the
consent of the guardian, is also invalid, or the marriage of a person performing hajj. Maliki law
forbids the marriage of a person who is on the death-bed. She must not commit adultery. Some
jurists comment that a woman who committed adultery, can't marry the co-offender, no his
brother or father. The man cant marry his co-offenders blood or foster relatives. Islam regulates
adultery in a way that it leads to the reduction of personal freedom and social rights of the
violators