Cheating in Marriage

“About the case of a man who marries a free woman and finds her to be a slave who has disguised herself before him, abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If the one who has given her in marriage is not one of her masters, the marriage is invalid.’ I then asked, ‘What should he do about mahr (dower) that she has taken?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If he finds with her something of what he has given to her, he can take it back, but if he does not find then she does not owe him anything. If a guardian has given her in marriage to him he can demand from such guardian what he has paid and her masters can demand from him one-tenth of her price if she is virgin; and if she is not virgin then it is half of one-tenth of her price which has made the marriage lawful.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘She must complete the waiting period for a slave.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if she gives birth to a child?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Her children from him are free, if marriage is without the permission of the masters.’”

“This is concerning my question before him (the Imam); ‘Alayhi al-Salam, about the case of a slave- girl of a people who goes to a tribe other than her tribe and tells that she is free. A man marries her and she gives birth for him. He (the Imam) said, ‘Her children are slaves unless testimony is established to prove that a witness had testified in favor of her being free, then her children cannot be owned; they remain free.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a slave girl who runs away from her masters, comes to another tribe and claims that she is free. A man in a hurry comes forward, marries her and her master then succeeds to find her out when she has already given birth to children. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he can establish testimony that he has married her as a free woman her children are free, otherwise, he has caused himself a back pain and his children become slaves.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the case of a man who proposes marriage to a man for his daughter for a certain amount of mahr (dower) but in the night of their going to bed he sends his other daughter who is from a slave-girl. He (the Imam) said, ‘He returns her to her father who must send his wife to him and her mahr (dower) is on her father.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who proposes marriage to a man for his daughter for a certain amount of mahr (dower) but he sends someone other than her. He (the Imam) said, ‘The one identified in marriage must be sent to him with mahr (dower) paid by her father and the mahr (dower) which was set first belongs to the woman with whom he has gone to bed.”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries from a people but finds out that his wife is blind about which he was not informed. He (the Imam) said, ‘Marriage is revoked only because of al-Bars (albino), leprosy, insanity and al-‘Afal (growth of something in woman’s vagina that does not allow sexual intercourse).”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries a woman who is insane or has leprosy and so on. He (the Imam) said, ‘He is responsible for mahr (dower).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Marriage of a woman with illness of al-Bars (albino), insanity and leprosy is revoked and invalid.’ I asked about a blind. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it does not apply to her.’”

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a woman who suffers from al-Bars (albino). He (the Imam) said, ‘’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), issued a judgment, in the case of a woman who was given in marriage by her guardian when she suffered from al-Bars, that she deserves mahr (dower) which must be paid by the one who gave her in marriage. Mahr (dower) is on him because he cheated. If a man marries a woman and a man who does not know about her cheating gives her in marriage he does not owe anything but she must return the mahr (dower) back.’”

About the case of a man who is appointed by a woman to manage her affairs or a relative or a neighbor who does not know about her cheating and he finds her as cheating about a defect which exists in her. He (the Imam) said, ‘She must pay back the mahr (dower) and the one who has given her in marriage does not owe anything.’”

“In the case of two sisters who were given (in marriage) as a gift to two brothers and who in the night of going to bed with them each one went to bed with the woman of the other one, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Each one must pay mahr (dower) because of going to bed and if their guardians had known it and ignored they are liable for payment of mahr (dower). No one of them must go close to his wife until the waiting periods are complete, thereafter, each one can go to her husband according to the first marriage.’ He (the Imam) was asked, ’What happens if they both die before completion of waiting period?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Their husbands demand for half of mahr (dower) from their (women’s) heir and both men have their shares in the legacy of the dead women.’ It was asked, ‘What happens if both men die and they are in their waiting period?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘They inherit them and they can have half of the mahr (dower) which was assigned and they must complete a waiting period after completing the waiting period before, the second being the waiting period for the death of their husbands.’”

“About the case of a man who marries a woman and finds Qarn or al- ‘Afal (growth of a substance in her vagina that prevents sexual intercourse) with her or whiteness or leprosy, he (the Imam) (a.s.), has said that he can revoke the marriage if he has not gone to bed with her.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who looks at a woman, likes her, asks about her and it is said that she is daughter of so and so. He goes to her father and asks him to give his daughter in marriage to him but he gives another woman in marriage to him and she gives birth for him but later he finds out that she is someone other than his daughter; instead she is his slave-girl. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must return the mother to her master and the child is his. The masters of slave-girl must pay the cost and the price of the child to the man because of their cheating the man.’”

“About the case of a man who marries a woman by the approval of her guardian and finds a defect in her after going to bed with her, abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said, ‘If the defect is al-‘Afal, al-Bars (albino), insanity, or ‘Ifda’ (an injury that cuts into her feces and urine passages), one who has an apparent defect and illness, such defective people’s marriage is revoked and they are returned to their families without divorce. The husband demands for mahr (dower) from her guardian who has cheated about her, and if her guardian did not know about it then there is nothing on him (the guardian) and she is returned to her family.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If the husband receives back what he had given, it belongs to him but if he did not get back anything then there is nothing for him.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘She must complete a waiting period which is for divorce if he has gone to bed with her but if he has not gone to bed with her then she does not need to complete a waiting period.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a woman who gives birth because of going to bed with a man out of wedlock and no one except her guardian knows it, if it is proper for him to give her in marriage and remain quiet about it, provided, he has seen her repenting or good deeds. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he does not mention it to her husband and later he (the husband) comes to know it, if he wants to demand her mahr (dower) from her guardian who cheated, he can do so and the mahr (dower) that he had received, he cannot collect it back from her because of marriage and if her husband wants to keep her it is not unlawful.”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘A woman can be returned because of four things: al- Bars (albino, a form of leprosy), leprosy, insanity and al-Qarn which is al-‘Afal, (growth of a substance in her vagina that prevents sexual intercourse) if he has not yet gone to bed with her, and if so then she cannot be returned.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries and finds Qarn in her. He (the Imam) said, ‘She cannot become pregnant, so she is returned to her family and the husband abstains from going to bed with her to return her to her family.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he has gone to bed with her?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If he knew about it before going to bed with her then went to bed, he has agreed and if he comes to know it after going to bed then he can keep if he so wishes, or return her and she can have what she has received as mahr (dower).”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries and finds Qarn in her. He (the Imam) said, ‘She cannot become pregnant and her husband cannot go to bed with her, so she is compelled to return to her family and she has no mahr (dower).’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he has gone to bed with her?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If he knew about it before going to bed with her then went to bed, he has agreed and if he comes to know it after going to bed then he can keep if he so wishes, or return her and she can have what she has received as mahr (dower).”’

“This is concerning my question before abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries a woman but her sister who is older than her goes to the house of the man, takes away the clothes of his wife, wears them, lies down in her room, moves her away and switches off the light. The girl cannot speak because of shyness. The man comes to the room and goes to bed with her thinking her as his wife and in the morning his wife comes to him saying, ‘I am your wife so and so whom you married and my sister plotted to take away my clothes, sat in my room and removed me from there.’ The man considers it and finds it to be true just as she said. He (the Imam) said, ‘In my view the woman who cheated has no mahr (dower) and she must be punished in the form of punishment for fornication of an unmarried person and her husband must not go to bed with her until waiting period for the cheating is complete and when waiting period is complete he can join his wife.’”