Fatwa

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Husband and wife told false information in their marriage contract
Fatwa No: 119115

Question

What action should someone take If they lied on their marriage contact (they said that they was a bachelor instead of a divorcee) and now they want to apply for a spouse visa to join their family? Should the person tell the truth on the visa application or should they use the same lie(they fear that they will be charged with fraud if they tell the truth) as used on the marriage certificate? The person believe that if they don’t join their family there is a very good chance the marriage will end up in a divorce because of not able to live in the same country. To redo the marriage contact they will have to deal with the same issue of being charged with fraud of a government document(marriage contract).

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

Forging documents is forbidden and whoever did it is obliged to sincerely repent to Allaah. As regards marriage, if it took place fulfilling the conditions of a correct marriage, then it is valid; the forging that occurred does not have any effect on the validity of the marriage. For more benefit on the conditions of a correct marriage, please refer to Fatwa 83629.

However, if the husband had conditioned (during the marriage contract) that his wife be virgin, and then it came out that she is not, then he has the right to invalidate the marriage if he is not pleased with the matter after it had become clear to him, but he has also the right to continue the marriage.

Moreover, it is not permissible to lie again, and if it is possible to use Tawriyah (saying something which has more than one meaning and intending a meaning different from what the listener is likely to understand) when speaking, then it is not permissible to resort to a clear lie. Nonetheless, if there is no alternative to lying in order to obtain one’s right or repel harm from one’s own self, then it is permissible to resort to it in this case.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 96435.  

Allaah Knows best.

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