Forced Nikah of an Adult Girl

Question

An adult girl was married off by her father to Zayd without her consent. Before the nikah the girl kept refusing to go to Zayd’s house, and after the nikah too, at the time of the bride’s send-off to her husband’s home, she said explicitly: “I do not want to marry Zayd.” But when her father sought to send her from the house by force, she fainted from the shock, and in that state she was sent to Zayd’s house.

Answer

If this oppression and cruelty has been going on for twelve or thirteen years and three children have already been born, then why was the ruling not asked about for such a long time? The importance of haram and halal demanded that, as soon as a nikah of this kind was performed, one should immediately have asked whether this nikah was valid or not; whether sending the girl off…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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