Is The Nikah Contract That Is Concluded Under Duress Valid?

Is the nikah contract that is concluded under duress valid?

According to Islamic judgments, nikah is a contract that is concluded between a man and a woman, who express their (or their representatives’) mutual consent to get married to each other before witnesses and who have no impediment to get married in religious terms. As marriage is based on the principle of a man and a woman’s living together for a lifetime, and meeting the good sides as well as confronting the difficulties that life bring about in tandem, a nikah that is concluded under duress without consent of the parties to marry one another is not valid according to Shafiʽis, Malikis, and Hanbalis. If one of the spouses is forced to marry under the fear of death, heavy violence, or long-time imprisonment, such nikah becomes peccable .

Their basis on this subject is the following hadith of Prophet Muhammad (saw), “Allah has forgiven for me my nation their mistakes and forgetfulness, and what they are forced to do” (Ibn Majah, Talaq, 16).

Ottoman Decree of Family Law accepted the opinions of Shafiʽi, Maliki, and Hanbali madhhabs both on the subject of forced nikah and on the subject of divorces under the same conditions (Art. 57, 105). Accordingly, a nikah that is solemnized under threat is not valid.

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWA