A Review of Conditional Marriage with Limited Compliance from the Viewpoint of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law

The Inclusion of allowed conditions in contracts is only valid if such conditions are in line with the general terms defined for validity of the contract, prouided that the conditions must not be in contrast with the nature of the contract. The concept of nature of contract is a little hard to grasp in some types of contracts, particularly in marriage contracts. There are different opinions on the issue whether or not sexual compliance is a natural aspect of marriage contract. The majority of jurists argue that sexual compliance is in the nature of a marriage contract and any condition made against it will be void because in this concern; but others believe that the main nature of a marriage contract is the creation of a spousal relation between the parties. There fore, sexual compliance is an effect of such a relationship and is therefore among the terms of the marriage contract and may be changed or adjusted accordingly. The authors of the paper argue that though sexual compliance is an aspect of marriage contract, due to its fundamental role in solidification of a family it is a very necessary implication of any marriage contract. Thus, a non-compliance condition, i.e., the total dissolution of sexual intercourse, in fact a condition against the apparent effects of marriage contracts and is, therefore, against the very spirit of marriage in terms of religion and common law. Such conditions may be considered as something opposing the very nature of the contract, and even if not so, it is definitely against the ruling laws and thus illegitimate. But limitation of some aspects of intercourse or limitation of the sexual compliance during a given period of time due to a more significant reason or purpose or due to its contradiction with a social duties of a woman seems to be free of problems.