The bride's family lied about her age
Fatwa No: 292639

Question

Assalamualikum wrwb,sheikh, my brother got recently married. On the 14 th day after marriage we found that the age of the bride is 6 years more than the years mentioned in the biodata of the bride and we never asked them reagrding it. what should we do we are unable to digest this thing. after all consideration my parent choose to keep sabr for the sake of Allah (swt) and let it go. but i am finding it hard to digest this thing. please let me know if something such has happened at the time of prophet mohammed pbuh and what mohammed has ordered to do. when ever i am seeing brides parent brother and sister ,even in the photos i am getting very angry ..please let me know what we should do. jazakaAllah khair.

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

We did not come across any similar incident that occurred in the time of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The criterion for choosing a wife is her religion and good moral conduct as the Prophet said: “Choose the religious one and you will prosper.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

As regards the age difference, it is not given consideration in the Sharee'ah, as the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, married Khadeejah  who was fifteen years older than him.

If the bride's family told you she was younger than she actually was, then they committed a misdeed and they should repent because this is a kind of lying. If this woman is religious, then it will help you to take the matter less seriously, as Allaah may bless her for your brother and give him children with her who will comfort his eyes.

Finally, we recommend that you have good relations with your in-laws and strive to forget what happened, so that the devil does not take advantage of this and so there will not be any undesirable consequences, such as hatred and enmity. This is the opposite of the religion's objective of harmony and affection in the Muslim society.

Allaah Knows best.

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