The Patient’s Marriage in Jurisprudence of Islamic Denominations

The patient’s marriage which leads to death and its effects, is one of the matters of dispute between Imami and Sunni jurisprudents. In order to prevent lose on heirs by the husband, Imami jurisprudents have considered sexual intercourse as the condition for the validity of marriage contract and accruence of dowry and inheritance, and in the case of the lack of sexual intercourse and death of the patient, the marriage contract is considered invalid. However, real invalidity is not intended here, but the intention is that the rules of the marriage contract like dowry, inheritance, viduity period or Iddah (waiting term) of death do not apply to marriage; because if real invalidity was intended, it would lead to contradiction and circularity, whereas Imami jurisprudents have not considered sexual intercourse as the condition for the validity of sick woman’s marriage. Most of Sunni jurisprudents, except Maliki jurists, have considered marriage of sick man or woman valid; whether the marriage has been consummated or not. In their view, in the case of the husband’s death, the wife deserves to receive the specified marriage portion and inheritance and the husband also deserves inheritance in case of wife’s death. The Maliki jurists distinguished the case in which the woman is aware of the man’s illness from the case in which she is not aware of. They believe that marriage contracts are void in both cases, but in the absence of awareness, the wife can receive her dowry after the husband’s recovery from the disease.