Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle

THE DISBELIEVER’S MARRIAGE
The following information is the translation of a chapter
entitled ‘The nikâh of a Kâfir’ from Durr-ul-mukhtâr, and from
Ibni ’Âbidîn, which is a commentary to the former:
Three facts will be explained here.
1 - Every nikâh that is sahîh between (two) Muslims is sahîh
between (two) disbelievers, too.
2 - Muslims’ nikâh will be harâm in the absence of any of the
essential conditions, e.g. if there are no witnesses or if the woman’s
period of ’iddat is not over yet. On the other hand, a nikâh
performed between two disbelievers in these cases will be
permissible if it is compatible with the canonical laws in their
religion.
3 - It is permissible for a disbeliever to marry, from among
disbelievers, a (kind of) woman who would be forbidden for a
Muslim to marry. And when a disbeliever marries one such
woman he has to support her and, when they become Muslims,
accusing them of incontinence, which is an act called Qazf, will
have to be chastised with (the punishment called) Hadd. [1] On the
other hand, a couple whose nikâh would become null and void if
they became Muslims cannot inherit property from each other.
When a couple of disbelievers who have married through a
nikâh of the second or third type become Muslims, the judge
separates them. If any one party of a married couple of magians, or
the female party of a married couple of disbelievers with a
Heavenly Book becomes a Muslim, the other party will be offered
to become a Muslim, too. If he or she becomes a Muslim, too, their
nikâh will not become void. Otherwise, the judge separates them. If
the male party of a couple of magians becomes a Muslim and the
female party (the wife) becomes a Jew or a Christian, their nikâh
will not become void. If either party (the woman or the man) of a
couple of disbelievers with a Heavenly Book becomes a Muslim
and moves to the Dâr-ul-islâm, their nikâh becomes void. For,
disbelievers in the Dâr-ul-harb are theoretically dead people. There
cannot be a nikâh between a person who is dead and one who is
alive. If both of them move to the Dâr-ul-islâm as Muslims or
dhimmîs, or if they are captivated, their nikâh will not become void.
If one of a married couple of Muslims becomes a renegade, that
is, if he or she abandons Islam, their nikâh becomes void. If the
[1] Please see the tenth chapter of the sixth fascicle of Endless Bliss.
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