A Case of the Nikah of an Absent Husband’s Wife

Question

Zayd married off a minor girl at the age of six; the boy at that time was ten years old. When the girl reached puberty and the boy also reached puberty, the boy ran away somewhere without informing anyone. When three years had passed, the boy’s father said: “Perhaps my son has died; marry your daughter off somewhere else.” When one month remained short of four years, a nikah was performed elsewhere.

Answer

(1) The second nikah did not take place validly. (2) If the second husband did not know that she had already been married to someone else, that he had not divorced her, that no Shari‘a separation (tafriq) had been obtained, and that the husband’s death had not been established, then they should be separated and the girl should also be made to complete the ‘idda. (3)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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