❖ Minor Marriage and Right of Annulment After Puberty
Shar’i Guidance Based on Qur'an & Sunnah
❖ Question:
What is the ruling of the scholars and jurists regarding a case where a man named Bashir Ahmad married off his daughter Imam Hussain alias Faizan during her minority (childhood)? Now, the said Faizan is refusing to accept this marriage. According to the Qur’an and Sunnah, does she have the Shar’i right to annul this marriage?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
If the question and circumstances are accurate, then the girl Imam Hussain alias Faizan does indeed have the Shar’i right to annul the marriage performed in her minority — provided that consummation (rukhsati) has not yet occurred.
This right in Islamic jurisprudence is known as "Khayār al-Bulūgh" (the Option upon Puberty).
❖ Evidence from Authentic Hadith:
❖ Narrated by Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه):
«لَا تُنْكَحُ الْأَيِّمُ حَتَّى تُسْتَأْمَرَ، وَلَا تُنْكَحُ الْبِكْرُ حَتَّى تُسْتَأْذَنَ» قَالُوا: كَيْفَ إِذْنُهَا؟ قَالَ: «أَنْ تَسْكُتَ»
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)
Translation:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: A previously married woman should not be married unless consulted, and a virgin should not be married without her permission.
The Companions asked: What is her permission? He replied: Her silence is her permission.
Implication:
This Hadith establishes that consent is essential for a valid Nikah, whether the woman is previously married or a virgin.
Since a minor girl lacks mental maturity, she is not eligible to give consent.
Thus, once she reaches puberty, she has the Shar’i right to either confirm or annul the marriage — a right that cannot be taken away from her.
❖ Additional Proofs:
❖ Narration from Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه):
A young virgin girl approached the Prophet ﷺ and said: My father married me off without my consent.
The Prophet ﷺ granted her the choice to either continue the marriage or annul it.
(Narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah; Sabil al-Salām, Vol. 3, Pg. 122)
✔ According to Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar: The narration is Mursal (missing link),
✔ But Imam Muḥammad Ismāʿīl al-Kahlānī clarified it is Mawṣūl and strong, due to multiple supporting chains, thus it is a strengthened narration.
He states:
“The only cause for annulment here was the girl’s disapproval, and thus the ruling is general, applying wherever such disapproval exists.”
(Sabil al-Salām, Vol. 3, Pg. 123)
❖ Narration from ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها):
A girl came to her saying: My father married me to his nephew to elevate his own status, while I dislike him.
ʿĀʾishah said: Wait until the Prophet ﷺ arrives.
When the Prophet ﷺ came, she explained the matter. The Prophet ﷺ called her father and gave the choice to the girl.
She said: O Messenger of Allah, I accept what my father arranged, but I wanted women to know that fathers do not have absolute authority in such matters.
(Narrated by al-Nasāʾī; Sabil al-Salām, Vol. 3, Pg. 123)
❖ Summary of Rulings:
✔ A minor girl's marriage is subject to her approval upon reaching puberty.
✔ If she has not consummated the marriage, she has full Shar’i authority to annul the marriage.
✔ This is known in Fiqh as Khayār al-Bulūgh — the option granted to a girl upon maturity.
✔ Thus, Miss Imam Hussain alias Faizan retains the full legal Shar’i right to annul the marriage arranged in her childhood.
هذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
