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What is the authenticity of the hadith that mentions the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, commanding guardians not to marry off their daughters to those who are ugly in appearance or deformed in creation, and what are the rulings associated with it, and what is the meaning of "ugly in appearance"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Two Prophetic hadiths indicate the consideration of beauty when choosing a wife, and scholars have pointed out that this also applies to men. It is understood from another hadith that the wife of Thabit ibn Qays had the right to seek divorce because she could not tolerate him, and some scholars mentioned that the reason for this was his ugliness. Although the Prophetic hadiths do not explicitly encourage guardians to consider the beauty of the suitor, this was explicitly reported from some Companions and Tabi'un, such as Umar ibn al-Khattab, who forbade forcing girls to marry an ugly man, indicating that ugliness can lead to hatred. Al-Ghazali believes that the guardian must consider the suitor's qualities, and should not marry his daughter to someone who has bad manners or religion, or who is not suitable for her, because marriage is a "bondage" and the girl has no escape. Therefore, the guardian must make a good choice of husband for his daughter.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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