Informing future wife of transmittable disease

7-9-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

I have a relative who became ill with Hepatitis C (Iltihab Kabidi) about 1 year ago. He is looking forward to getting married. He was treated and, Al-Hamdu Lillah, recently was diagnosed as recovered, but he has to continue the course of medication till its end. Does he have to explain his medical history to the woman he wants to marry and her family? Some of his family say that a lot of people exaggerate about this disease, and mentioning it could reduce a great deal the chances of him being accepted for marriage. They argue that one doesn't have to reveal previous medical ailments if he's recovered from them. To explain the case further and to help assessing the situation: the medication has side effects similar to someone who has flu. It's unlikely that the disease will be transmitted to the wife by sexual relations unless the virus is highly active and the chances are - as estimated as 5 percentage by doctors. This disease has a chance of re-occurrence which is unknown. What's the Shari'a guideline - in general - for telling the woman of previous diseases, with reference to this special case?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

If the person has been cured from the disease and the possibility of infecting his wife is very little then there is no harm to get married. Yet, it is neither mandatory nor advisable to inform the girl or her family about the disease, if he is already cured from it. There is no wrong in taking the medicine continuously to avoid the disease in future.
Allah knows best.