Is the Marriage of One’s Children Among the Basic Needs?

Question

What do the honourable scholars say on this matter: a man has the Shar‘i nisab in cash rupees, but his children have not yet been married. In view of present times, if a girl’s parents marry off their daughter “with white hands”, how humiliated and despised that girl becomes in the eyes of the groom and his community — indeed, the girl’s whole life is ruined. And for the male children there are no apparent means of livelihood either.

Answer

If the children are adults, their marriage is not fard upon the father; rather, according to the Shari‘a the responsibility for marriage lies on the children themselves. And if the children are minors, it is quite obvious that their marriage is not necessary according to the Shari‘a. The marriage of children is not included in the basic needs.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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