Ehe und Familie

The Quran caps plural marriage at four wives, ties it to justice, and points to one wife as the norm. Every spouse's free consent is required today.

Divorce is halal in Islam. The Quran permits it as a lawful, dignified way out of a marriage that has failed, and asks both spouses to part with kindness.

Marrying your cousin is halal in Islam. Cousins are absent from the Quran's list of forbidden relatives, and the Prophet married his cousin Zaynab bint Jahsh.

Birth control is halal in Islam. The Companions practiced contraception in the Prophet's lifetime, and the schools of law permit it with mutual consent.

Staying single or childfree is halal in Islam. Marriage is a sunna, and most jurists held it obligatory for no one; great scholars like al-Nawawi never married.

Islam commands kindness to parents always, and obedience only in what is right. Parents cannot order sin, force a marriage, or demand what harms their child.

Muslims can adopt. Raising an orphan or a child in need is among the most rewarded deeds in Islam, as long as the child's own origins are honored.

Forced marriage is haram in Islam. The Prophet annulled a marriage a father imposed on his daughter, and no nikah stands without both spouses' consent.

Hitting children is haram on the stronger view. The Prophet never struck a child, taught that gentleness beautifies everything, and raised children with mercy.

Mahr is the gift a groom gives his bride at marriage. It belongs to her alone, has no fixed maximum, and the Prophet urged ease, accepting even an iron ring.

A Muslim wedding centers on the nikah: free consent, the mahr, witnesses, a short sermon, and the contract, followed by a walima feast, music, and celebration.

A Muslim may marry a Hindu, Buddhist, or atheist on the stronger view, with mutual respect and freedom of faith. The ban in 2:221 concerned Mecca's idolaters.

A Sunni and a Shia can marry. Both are Muslims, the Amman Message affirmed it, and Sunni and Shia families have married each other for centuries.

Triple talaq said at once counts as one revocable divorce. The Quran spreads divorce over stages, and in the Prophet's time three at once counted as one.

Favoring one child in gifts, care, or attention is haram on the stronger view. The Prophet said, "Fear Allah and be just among your children."

A Muslim may inherit from a non-Muslim parent on the stronger view, held by Muʿādh ibn Jabal and in Jaʿfari law, and may accept any bequest or gift they leave.