❖ Question:
Does a marriage contract take place if ijāb and qubūl (offer and acceptance) are made in a state of intoxication?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
✿ Answer:
If intoxication is to the extent that the groom does not even know what he is saying, then such a marriage is invalid.
Allah the Exalted says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ
(al-Nisā’: 43)
“O believers! Do not approach prayer while intoxicated, until you understand what you are saying.”
❀ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله (d. 751H) said:
جعل سبحانه قول السكران غير معتبر لأنه لا يعلم ما يقول
“Allah the Exalted has rendered the speech of the intoxicated person invalid, because he does not know what he is saying.”
(Zād al-Maʿād: 5/190)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله (d. 852H) said:
قد يأتي السكران في كلامه وفي فعله بما لا يأتي به وهو صاح لا يعلم ما يقول
“A person in intoxication may say or do things which he would never do in a state of sobriety, as he does not know what he is saying. This is proven by Allah’s statement: ‘until you know what you are saying.’ This verse indicates that one who understands his words is not truly intoxicated.”
(Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/390)
Conclusion:
- If intoxication reaches the point where the person does not comprehend his words, then nikāḥ is not valid.
- Valid ijāb and qubūl require awareness and understanding
