Stipulations in Marriage: The Permissible and Impermissible ones

“About the case of a man who marries a woman for an appointed time that if within that time he pays mahr (dower) she is his wife and if he does not pay mahr (dower) within the appointed time he will have no way to the woman because such is their condition of the time of forming marriage, abu Ja’far ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘He has his wife in his hand and their condition falls void.’”

“About the case of a man who marries a woman with the condition that he will not take her out of her town, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘He must keep that promise’ or that he (the Imam) said, ‘It is binding upon him.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries a woman with the condition to come to her whenever he wants and pays her an agreed upon amount every month. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“Abu Abu Ja’far (a.s.), was asked about the case of a man who married a woman who could only be visited during the day because of a condition at the time of forming marriage that he could visit her whenever he wants, like every month, every week one day with so and so amount for expenses. He (the Imam) said, ‘Such condition is not meaningful. If one marries a woman she must have what a woman must have for her expenses as well as her share of her time. However, if a woman marries and is afraid of his neglecting or that he may marry another woman or divorce her and she reaches a settlement in exchange for her rights like expenses or share of her time, such points are valid, and it is not unlawful.’”

“About the case of a man who has a slave to whom he says, ‘I set you free with the condition that I will give my daughter in marriage to you and if you married a second wife on her or did something secretly against her you must pay one hundred dinar’, and he sets him free on such condition but he does secretly and marries. One of the two Imam, (abu Ja’far or abu ‘Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, has said, ‘He must stand by his condition.’”

“Durays was married to the daughter of Humran with the condition that he will not marry a second wife on her and will never do anything secretly against her in her lifetime and after her death and a condition on her not to marry anyone after him. They set upon each other the condition of offering sacrifice, al-Hajj, and al-Budn and if anyone of them violated such conditions all of his or her assets go to the destitute. Then they came to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and informed him (the Imam) of the story. He (the Imam) said, ‘The daughter of Humran has her rights and such rights will not make us to say that you have no rights. Go and marry and do things secretly because the conditions are not congenial and you or she is not obliged for anything and what you have done is not meaningful.’ He did secretly certain things and many children were born for him.’”

“About the case of a woman who marries a man and she as part of her mahr (dower) says that going to bed will be in her control as well as divorce, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It is against the Sunnah and has entrusted the right with one who is not the right person for it. Judgment requires that the man must pay mahr (dower). He has the right to go to bed and divorce and that is the Sunnah.’”

“I once said to abu al-Hassan, Musa (a.s.), when I was standing, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, my partner had a wife. He divorced her and became stranger to her then he wanted to go back to her and she said, ‘No, by Allah, I will never marry you until you make it binding on yourself from Allah not to divorce me and not to marry a second wife.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Did he do so?’ I replied, ‘Yes, he did, I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘What he has done is terrible, ignoring the fact that what may fall in his heart in the middle of the night or day.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘Now, however, say to him to complete the condition for the woman because the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, “Muslims stand by their conditions.’” I then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I have doubts about the words (of the stipulation).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He is ‘Imran who meets you, is he not with you in al-Madinah?’ I replied, ‘Yes, that is true.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘Tell him to write it and send it to me.’ ‘Imran afterwards came to us and we wrote them to him (the Imam) and there was no addition in it or reduction. He came back and met with me in the market of flours and touched my shoulder saying, ‘He (the Imam) says Salam (the phrase of offering greeting of peace) to you and says to you to tell the man to stand by his condition.’”

“This is concerning a question before abu al-Hassan, Musa (a.s.), in my presence, about the case of a man who marries a woman for one hundred dinar with the condition that she will go with him to his town. If she will not go with him to his town her mahr (dower) will be fifty dinar. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he wants to take her to the lands of pagans, then such condition is not valid and the one hundred dinar belongs to her which is her mahr (dower) but if he wants to take her to the lands of the Muslims within the Muslim domain then the condition is valid in his favor; Muslims must stand by their conditions. He cannot take her out of her town without first paying her mahr (dower) or make her agree with whatever amount, it then is permissible.’”