Wife granted marriage annulment based on false testimony Fatwa No: 237973
- Fatwa Date:13-2-2014
I want to send a letter this is regarding nikah fask which my wife obtained despite my strong opposition. The biased was managed and he gave the judgment based on total lies and false charges. I love my wife and I want to keep but my wife's family wanted divorce. Pls give your views on nikah obtained fraudently .
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
In order to give a sound judgment regarding a given issue, all the circumstances and details related to it have to be known. Passing a judgment on a given matter should be based on correct and inclusive understanding of its nature. Therefore, it is better to refer the case to the concerned authority that handles Muslims' issues in your country.
Generally speaking, the basic principle is that a Muslim judge in a Sharee'ah court, or the substitute thereof, should not pass any judgment before hearing what all the parties have to say. However, if the judge issued Faskh (annulment) of this marriage contract based on a false testimony, then the marriage contract is not rendered null and void, according to the Islamic Sharee'ah. In this case, the marriage remains intact, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars who maintain that a ruling that was issued based on a false testimony is legally effectuated, but not Islamically. So, it does not change the legal status of a given issue from the perspective of Islamic Sharee'ah, be it an effecuation or annulment of a marriage contract or any other contract. They cited as evidence a Hadeeth reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Verily, I am only a human and you bring to me your disputes; perhaps some of you are more eloquent than others. I judge according to what I hear. So, he whom I, by my judgment, give an undue share out of the right of his brother, he should not take any part of it, for I, in fact, give him a portion of Hellfire.”
This is of course in case it was a Muslim judge in the Sharee'ah court who issued that ruling. On the other hand, if it was the regular courts, run by man-made laws, that issued that ruling, then it has no significance at all (from the perspective of the Islamic Sharee'ah).
We did not understand what you mean by ''Nikaah obtained fraudulently'. If it means that after the Faskh (annulment) of your marriage contract, your wife married another man, then her new marriage is absolutely null and void because of the existence of a legal impediment, i.e. being already married to you according to the Islamic Sharee'ah. In this case, she is still your wife and it is unlawful for her to other men. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {And [also prohibited to you are all] married women except those your right hands possess...} [Quran 4:24] This is of course if a Muslim judge issued a verdict based on a false testimony, as you mentioned in the question.
Allaah Knows best.