Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
In our times, is it necessary to perform nikāḥ (marriage) before having intercourse with a purchased woman?
Firstly, the buying and selling of a free woman is absolutely impermissible — it is ḥarām (forbidden) in Islam.
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ثَلَاثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي، ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا، فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ، وَلَمْ يُعْطِ أَجْرَهُ
Translation:
Allah says: Three types of people I shall oppose on the Day of Resurrection:
① A man who makes a covenant in My Name and then betrays it,
② A man who sells a free person and consumes the price,
③ A man who hires a laborer, takes full work from him but does not pay him his wages.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2227
If someone buys a woman in this era:
➤ She does not fall under the category of a lawful slave woman (amāh),
➤ Therefore, intercourse without nikāḥ is not permissible,
➤ And if she is already married, it is not permissible to marry her either unless:
➤ Selling or buying a free woman is ḥarām.
➤ A woman obtained in such a way does not become a slave-woman, thus nikāḥ is obligatory for any lawful intimacy.
➤ If she is married, even nikāḥ is not permissible unless separation (by divorce or death) occurs and ʿiddah is completed.
❖ Question:
In our times, is it necessary to perform nikāḥ (marriage) before having intercourse with a purchased woman?
✿ Answer:
Firstly, the buying and selling of a free woman is absolutely impermissible — it is ḥarām (forbidden) in Islam.
✦ Ḥadīth Evidence:
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ثَلَاثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي، ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا، فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ، وَلَمْ يُعْطِ أَجْرَهُ
Translation:
Allah says: Three types of people I shall oppose on the Day of Resurrection:
① A man who makes a covenant in My Name and then betrays it,
② A man who sells a free person and consumes the price,
③ A man who hires a laborer, takes full work from him but does not pay him his wages.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2227✦ Ruling on Intercourse:
If someone buys a woman in this era:
➤ She does not fall under the category of a lawful slave woman (amāh),
➤ Therefore, intercourse without nikāḥ is not permissible,
➤ And if she is already married, it is not permissible to marry her either unless:
- Her husband divorces her, or
- He passes away, and
- After completing her ʿiddah, marriage may be performed.
Summary:
➤ Selling or buying a free woman is ḥarām.
➤ A woman obtained in such a way does not become a slave-woman, thus nikāḥ is obligatory for any lawful intimacy.
➤ If she is married, even nikāḥ is not permissible unless separation (by divorce or death) occurs and ʿiddah is completed.
