Keeping a woman with oneself without nikah

Question

A certain man kept a woman with him as his wife for a long time without a nikah, so that people thought she was his wife. Recently, however, this woman committed zina (fornication/adultery) with someone else. When her present husband learned of it, he beat her. Afterwards the woman said: “I will not live with him; rather, I will live with that other man.” This caused a scandal. The present husband gave her permission: “Live wherever you wish.” Some time later people called the imam to perform the nikah.

Answer

To say, without having contracted a nikah, that one “kept her as a wife” is a mockery of the very concept of marriage, and that is dangerous. One must completely refrain from such words. This is not marriage but fornication, and the two are opposites of each other.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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