Can a Free Woman Be Purchased and Then Married?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī
❖ Question:
Is it permissible to purchase a free woman and then marry her?
✿ Answer:
At present, the buying and selling of any free man or woman is not permissible in Islam.
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«قَالَ اللَّهُ: ثَلاثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ، وَلَمْ يُعْطِ أَجْرَهُ»
Allah says: “There are three persons against whom I will Myself be a plaintiff on the Day of Judgment:
① the one who makes a covenant in My Name and then breaks it,
② the one who sells a free person and consumes his price,
③ and the one who hires a worker, takes full work from him but does not pay him his wages.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2227)
✔ Legal Ruling:
If someone were to purchase a free woman and then marry her, the act of selling/buying itself is prohibited and sinful, but the nikāḥ contract will still be valid in Sharīʿah.
Conclusion:- It is ḥarām to sell or buy a free person.
- If a free woman was wrongfully purchased and then nikāḥ was conducted, the marriage would be valid, though the transaction remains sinful.
