Making talaq conditional on nikah

Question

Muztar, a man unrelated to her, said about one Ghazala, an unrelated woman not married to him: “If I marry her (lit. contract nikah with her), or if my nikah with her takes place, then she is under a major (mughallaza) divorce.” Muztar does not remember which of these two sentences he said. What needs to be ascertained is: which statement will be given preference, and can there be any way of nikah with Ghazala or not? The condition is that Ghazala should not be married to anyone else.

Answer

When a man swears such an oath, his aim is to keep the utmost distance from that woman, which requires that she can in no way come into his nikah and that he remains completely distant from her. However, if he uttered sentence (1)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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