Answered by: Alimah Aabedah Khatun
Question:
A woman is the only child of divorced parents. Neither parent is remarried, and both suffer several mild to severe illnesses. Her mother requires her to live with her, and her father requires her to check in on him frequently.
This sister wishes for her future husband to live with her and her mother, as well as allow her to often visit her father, so that she may continue looking after her parents even after getting married. She also desires her father to be allowed to move in with them if his health becomes worse later on. She has put these forwards as conditions in her prospective marriage contract, as well as asking for his ‘understanding when she prioritises the care of her parents.
Is such a marriage contract valid? Does it not violate her future husband’s rights? Even if he willingly agrees to it, is such a setup permissible when she is essentially asking him to allow her to prioritise her parents over him? Is it permissible for a man to be asked to live with his wife’s parents in this manner?
May Allah be pleased with you,
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
The whole point of nikkah is to save people from fitnah and to guard their chastity. They don’t have to live with the husband’s family, if the husband and wife both agree to live with the wife’s family in the same house then that is also permissible.
قوله: (عقد) العقد مجموع إيجاب أحد المتكلمين مع قبول الآخر أو كلام الواحد القائم مقامهما أعني متولي الطرفين بحر وفيه كلام يأتي. (قوله: أي حل استمتاع الرجل) أي المراد أنه عقد يفيد حكمه بحسب الوضع الشرعي
(Radul Mukhtar – volume 4 – page 59 – Darul Kutub Ilmiyah)
However, it is the right of the husband to provide for his wife.
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Alimah Aabedah Khatun
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham