- knowing one's rights and obligations of an act is itself an obligation
- knowing yourself well with the abilityto take the burden of responsibility (Mukallaf) is an implied requirement
- for males, he must have the ability to provide and maintain his wife and family that would follow
- for females, her ability to consent is sufficient readiness.
Okay, that was straight-forward. As I have promised my friend Nafeesa, who will be married in 2 months inshaAllah, I'll include some things to make a marriage contract. My husband & I are attending this Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) of Marriage @ the Al-Ghazzali center, and I thought this might help on the road to marriage.
Preparing the Marriage contract in Writing
- a written contract is not obligatory but recommended.
- conditions in a marriage agreement, which stipulates the acting on a prohibited matter make such conditions void, but the marriage valid.
- matters which are a necessary responsibility of a party, but not stipulated in a contract, is still obligatory on that person. Not fulfilling such an obligation gives the right to the other party for divorce.
- matters which are not stipulated under Shari'ah, but there is benefit in such a condition and if present in a contract must be obligatorily fulfilled. If no recourse is stipulated, for such a condition however, it canot be enforced through official means, e.g., an Islamic court or through recognised Leaders of a community.
- it is permitted to give the right to one's wife to divorce herself without the involvement of the Islamic Court or authority, and is called Tafweed.
- acceptance of Tafweed after entering into marriage is acceptable, as long as the husband agrees to this stipulation.
- a woman may stipulate conditions of contract and Tafweed attached to it.
- the written contract must be witnessed by at least two parties. It is best to make available the same copies of the contract each to the husband and the wife.
Ok, there you go. Hope that helps.
~Peace.
