Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
1.
To marry off one’s sister or daughter to someone on the condition that he marries his own daughter or sister to him is called “nikah shighar.” Thus, in a hadith narrated from Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu, the definition of shighar is stated in these words:
A man says to another, “Marry your daughter to me and I will marry my daughter to you,” or he says, “Marry your sister to me and I will marry my sister to you.”
(Musnad Ahmad: 2/439)
In the Shariah, such a marriage is forbidden; in fact, Islam does not recognize this type of marriage at all.
The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“There is no shighar in Islam.”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Nikah, Hadith: 3465(1415))
However, some people say that nikah shighar is, in its essence, legislated, but due to a particular characteristic it is invalid, because it does not include a dower (mahr). Therefore, by making the dower equivalent to that of similar women (mahr mithl) obligatory, it can be validated.
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah raised three objections against such people, the details of which are as follows:
➊.
To declare such a marriage permissible through legal stratagems (hiyal) is contrary to authentic ahadith.
The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam prohibited this type of marriage, and his prohibition necessitates the invalidity of the prohibited matter; rather, Islam has denied its very existence.
➋.
There is contradiction in the statements of these people.
Just as shighar is prohibited in Islam, so too is mut‘ah (temporary marriage) prohibited; therefore, the ruling for both should be the same. But these people, through legal stratagems, declare shighar permissible, yet do not declare mut‘ah permissible through such stratagems. This is a clear contradiction.
➌.
There is contradiction within their own statements.
According to most of them, nikah shighar is permissible and mut‘ah is impermissible, but according to some among them, both shighar and mut‘ah are permissible, though the condition is invalid.
2.
According to our inclination, the prohibition of mut‘ah and shighar is equally established from the ahadith; in fact, nikah mut‘ah was, in some circumstances, permissible, but shighar was never permissible.
Now, mut‘ah is also forbidden until the Day of Judgment.
3.
The prohibition of nikah shighar is not due to the absence of a dower, such that it could be validated by imposing a dower equivalent to that of similar women (mahr mithl), but rather it is forbidden due to the mutual condition and exchange.
The social harm in this is that if one man divorces the other’s daughter, the other will also divorce his daughter.
Even if a dower is stipulated in this, it is still forbidden, as in the case where Abbas radi Allahu anhu ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas married his daughter to Abdur Rahman ibn Hakam, and Abdur Rahman married his daughter to Abbas; both of them stipulated a dower.
When Amir Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu was informed of this, he sent an order through a letter to Marwan ibn Hakam to separate the two.
In that letter, it was also stated that this is the very shighar marriage from which the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam prohibited.
(Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Nikah, Hadith 2075)
In this marriage, the dower was also paid, yet Amir Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu annulled it. Therefore, to declare this type of marriage permissible through any legal stratagem is tantamount to taking the law of the Shariah into one’s own hands.
4.
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah, by timely warning against such legal stratagems, has cautioned the Ummah lest they fall into them.
It should be noted that Imam Bukhari rahimahullah did not accuse these people of anything; rather, the reality is that, according to them, nikah shighar and temporary marriage (nikah muwaqqat) are permissible. Thus, it is stated in Sharh Wiqayah:
“A sale becomes invalid due to corrupt conditions, but in marriage, corrupt conditions do not affect it; therefore, both shighar and temporary marriage are permissible.”
(Sharh Wiqayah, Kitab al-Nikah)

Hadith Commentary:
This explanation of the word "shighar" is, according to some, attributed to either Ibn Umar (radi Allahu anhuma), or Nafi', or Imam Malik.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
It is narrated from Ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“There is no shighar marriage in Islam.”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Nikah, Hadith: 3465 (1415))
In one narration of Sahih al-Bukhari, it is explicitly mentioned that the definition of shighar was given by Nafi’.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Hiyal, Hadith: 6960)
In this, the condition regarding the dowry (mahr) is a matter of consensus; the real essence of shighar is the conditional exchange of marriage itself, whether or not the dowry is specified. For example, Abbas bin Abdullah bin Abbas married his daughter to Abdur Rahman bin Hakam, and Abdur Rahman married his daughter to him in return. Both of them also specified the dowry. Then Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu, through a letter from Marwan bin Hakam, separated the two and wrote that this is the very shighar which the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam forbade.
(Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Nikah, Hadith: 2075)
(2)
Although the jurists of Kufa have deemed it permissible with the payment of a suitable dowry (mahr mithl), this position is contrary to clear ahadith.
However, if the exchange of marriage happens coincidentally (without condition), then there is no harm in it.
(3)
The reason for its prohibition is that if one girl is divorced due to her own fault, the home of the other girl is ruined without any reason. Therefore, the Shari’ah has prohibited conditional exchange of marriage.
Wallahu a’lam (And Allah knows best).

Benefits and Issues:
In the era of Jahiliyyah, this type of marriage was prevalent under the name of Nikah Shighar. Its form was such that a person would marry his sister or daughter to another person on the condition that the latter would also marry his own sister or daughter to the former, and the dowry (mahr) of one would be considered the marriage of the other; no separate dowry would be paid.

In other words, this marriage was similar to what is nowadays called "exchange" or "reciprocal" marriages (batashta) in some places. Such a marriage in which there is no dowry (mahr) is absolutely impermissible and haram. If the dowry (mahr) for each girl is separately stipulated, then there is no doubt regarding the validity of the marriage. However, this condition of exchange and such types of marriages generally become a cause of discord within families; therefore, some scholars are strict and say that even if the dowry (mahr) is stipulated, it is still impermissible. However, this fatwa is open to discussion.

In the incident mentioned in the following hadith, Abbas bin Abdullah bin Abbas and Abdur Rahman bin Hakam contracted such a marriage (shighar), and considered this very marriage as the dowry (mahr). So, Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu separated them.

Shighar is one of the marriages from the era of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), which in our language is called "Nikah Watta" (exchange marriage). This is prohibited in Islam. Its details are coming ahead. A detailed discussion will be presented there, in sha Allah.

(1) "Shighar is this": Although this explanation of shighar is not itself transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) or any Companion, rather it is transmitted from Nafi', the student of Ibn Umar (radi Allahu anhuma), nevertheless, this explanation clarifies the reality of shighar marriage. From this, it becomes clear that the present-day watta satta (exchange marriage) does not fall under the category of shighar, because in these, separate dowries (mahr) are stipulated. However, due to ignorance, the outcomes of watta satta marriages are generally very negative; therefore, it is better to avoid them.

(2) In Sunan Abu Dawud, an incident is narrated that two persons married each other's daughters; after this, the words are: [وكانا جعَلا صداقًا] "and both of them also stipulated the dowry (mahr)." (Sunan Abi Dawud: Kitab al-Nikah, Hadith: 2075) Despite this, the narration states that Mu'awiyah (radi Allahu anhu) wrote to Marwan (his governor) that he should separate the two, because this is the same shighar from which the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade. On the basis of this narration, some scholars have expressed the opinion that even if there is a dowry (mahr), such a conditional marriage (in which the condition is marrying each other's daughters or women) is invalid. But the reality is that this narration of Sunan Abu Dawud has come in Sahih Ibn Hibban (al-Ihsan bi Tartib Sahih Ibn Hibban: 6/180, and Mawarid al-Zam'an: 4/196) with the wording [وَقَدْ کَانَا جَعَلاَہُ صَدَاقاً], meaning that in it, the first object (maf'ul awwal) of "ja'ala" is also mentioned. According to this wording, the meaning becomes that both of them made this conditional marriage itself the dowry (mahr). With this pronoun, the meaning of the narration becomes entirely correct, and the reasonable cause for Mu'awiyah's (radi Allahu anhu) order to separate them also becomes clear: that this marriage was indeed the prohibited shighar. Mu'awiyah's (radi Allahu anhu) order of separation is also an indication that here the pronoun (maf'ul awwal) is omitted, and the wording of the narration is [جَعَلاَہُ ], not [جَعَلا ] (without the maf'ul pronoun), because despite the payment of dowry (mahr), Mu'awiyah's (radi Allahu anhu) declaring this marriage invalid is incomprehensible. And Allah knows best.

Benefits and Issues:
➊ Nikah Shighar, or reciprocal marriages, refers to the same practice that is commonly known in Punjab as "watta satta." Its explanation has already been mentioned in the narration.

➋ The problem with Nikah Shighar is that if there is discord between husband and wife on one side, an attempt is made to take revenge on the other side as well. To the extent that if one man, for any reason, divorces his wife, the other also divorces his own innocent wife.

➌ In the era of ignorance (jahiliyyah), in Nikah Shighar, the dowry (mahr) was not determined, nor was an equivalent dowry (mahr mithl) given. In effect, it was as if women were being exchanged for women. Nowadays, although a dowry is stipulated, the same problem still persists: an attempt is made to avenge the excesses of one man by inflicting excess upon his daughter. Therefore, this practice should also be avoided.

Takhrij al-Hadith: [واخرجه البخاري 5112، ومسلم 1415/57، من حديث مالك به]
Jurisprudential Understanding
➊ Shighar (exchange marriage, barter marriage) is not permissible. Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr said: «وأجمع العلماء علٰي أن نكاح الشغار مكروه لا يجوز واختلفوا فيه إذا وقع هل يصح بمهر المثل أم لا؟» There is consensus among the scholars that shighar is disliked and not permissible, and they have differed regarding whether, if such a marriage is contracted, it is valid with a proper dower (mahr mithl) or not. [التمهيد 14/72]
➋ It is narrated from Abdur Rahman bin Hurmuz al-A‘raj rahimahullah that Abbas bin Abdullah bin Abbas married his daughter to Abdur Rahman bin Hakam, and Abdur Rahman married his daughter to him. [و قد كانا جعلاه صداقاً] And both of them considered this (marriage) itself as the dower. So the caliph Mu‘awiyah bin Abi Sufyan radi Allahu anhu wrote to Marwan (bin al-Hakam al-Umawi) instructing him to separate them. He also wrote in that letter that this is shighar, from which the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam forbade. [صحيح ابن حبان، الاحسان : 4141 يا 4153 وسنده حسن، مسند ابي يعلي : 7370 و سنده حسن]
➌ It is narrated from our master Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam forbade shighar. Ibn Numayr (the narrator) added: And shighar is that a man says to another man: “Marry your daughter to me and I will marry my daughter to you,” or “Marry your sister to me and I will marry my sister to you.” [صحيح مسلم : 1416، دارالسلام : 3469]
➍ Some scholars say that shighar marriage is absolutely prohibited, whether there is a dower or not. This opinion is weak.