The Official Website of the Office of His Eminence Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani

Question & Answer » Marriage

1 Question: I am virgin girl but independent financially. Is it is necessary to obtain my guardian's permission for marriage?
Answer: It is necessary to seek your father or paternal grandfather's permission.
sistani.org/15053
2 Question: I am a virgin girl, do I need to seek my father's permission for temporary or permanent marriage?
Answer: Yes, it is necessary.
sistani.org/15054
3 Question: Can a Sayyid girl marry a non-Sayyid man?
Answer: It is permissible and there is no objection to it.
sistani.org/15064
4 Question: If a woman is over thirty years of age, and still virgin, is it necessary for her to seek the permission of her guardian for marriage?
Answer: If she is not independent, it is obligatory on her to seek his consent. Rather, even if she is independent, she must seek his consent, as a matter of compulsory precaution.
sistani.org/15055
5 Question: Some Western governments allow the daughter to be independent of her parents, after she has passed the age of sixteen. If she seeks her parents advice, it is only for seeking their opinion or out of respect for them. Is such a virgin girl allowed to marry, be it permanent or a temporary marriage, without the consent of her father?
Answer: If this means that the father has allowed her to marry whomsoever she wants or that he has withdrawn from interfering in the matter of her marriage, it is permissible for her to do so; otherwise, it is not permissible.
sistani.org/15056
6 Question: Is it permissible to look carefully at the body, with exception of the private parts, of the woman one intends to marry with sexual motivation or without it?
Answer: It is permissible to look at the woman’s features like the face, the hair, and the hands but without lustful intention. When a person has come to know about her features by the first look, it is not permissible to look again. The look should be without any lustful intentions, and avoiding involving any prohibited acts.
sistani.org/15057
7 Question: Is it valid to pronounce the marriage formula through a telephone?
Answer: It is permissible, as long as the marriage contract is recited verbally, over the phone, mobile etc. (not text on its own)
sistani.org/15059
8 Question: Is it sufficient for a non-Arab to pronounce the marriage formula in Arabic without understanding the meaning of the words, even though we know that the purpose for uttering those words is to solemnize the marriage in the right way?
Supposing that just the utterance is sufficient, is it necessary to say it in Arabic without having the need to say the marriage formula in another language?
Answer: It would be sufficient, provided that the person has some understanding, even roughly, of the meaning of the Arabic words.
sistani.org/15060
9 Question: Is it permissible for us to give the Imam’s portion of khums for the marriage of a believer (mo’min) in the West, knowing that the amount of money that is given here [for this one marriage] can be used for marriages of more than one believer [in the Muslim countries], and there are many needy believes, in Muslim countries? Is it not necessary that most possible numbers of deserving people should be helped from sahm-e Imam?
Answer: Although providing for the marriage of needy believers is among the avenues covered by the portion of the Imam (a.s.), one is not permitted to utilize it for this or its other purposes without the permission of the marja‘ or his representative.
It is not necessary to use the sahm-e Imam to serve the interests of the most possible number of deserving people; what is important is to prioritize the important causes. This prioritization varies according to circumstances.
sistani.org/15061
10 Question: Is it permissible for a Muslim single man to consummate permanent marriage contract with a Christian or Jewish woman?
Answer: It is not permissible, (Obligatory Precaution).
sistani.org/15062
11 Question: Can a Muslim marry his/her own cousin?
Answer: It is permissible.
sistani.org/15063
12 Question: Is it permissible to marry a lewd woman (prostitute)?
Answer: If a man wishes to marry a woman of loose character, he should, as a precaution, wait till she becomes Pak from her menses, irrespective of whether he had committed fornication with her, or anyone else had done so.
sistani.org/15065
13 Question: Is marriage compulsory in Islam or is it optional? I mean if someone does not want to marry, intentionally, is that allowed in Islam or not?
Answer: It is optional by itself.
sistani.org/15069
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