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What is the religious ruling on a man marrying a woman with "Al-Fatiha" and a dowry without an official marriage contract, given that he was unable to document his divorce from his previous wife, and is the woman considered sinful for refusing this marriage and needing the assurance of a marriage contract?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Marriage is contracted through offer and acceptance, and specific conditions such as the guardian's permission and the presence of witnesses. If these are met, the woman becomes a wife, and she must allow her husband to consummate the marriage after the immediate portion of the dower has been handed over. It is not permissible to refuse the husband access merely because the contract has not been officially registered in court, if the wife is aware of the husband's current circumstances that prevent him from registering, and the consummation can be witnessed to secure rights. However, if she was unaware of his circumstances and fears a definite harm from the lack of documentation, then there is no blame upon her for refusing.

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

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