What are the defects that must be disclosed to a potential marriage partner?

We ask
Allah to heal you and grant you well-being. It seems to us that this illness
is not real. If we assume that it is real, then we would say: if this
illness would not have any impact on married life or on raising children,
then there is no need to inform a prospective marriage partner about it. But
if it does have some impact, in the sense that it may result in some
problems after marriage that would prevent you from developing bonds of love
and creating a tranquil home, then you must tell him about that, because
concealing it would be a kind of deceit. It is proven that deceit is
forbidden in general terms from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him), according to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever
deceives (people) does not belong to me.” Narrated by Muslim, 102.

You should
not pay any attention to imaginary things with regard to your illness. Most
such things are tricks of the Shaytaan, and are aimed at preventing you from
getting married and keeping yourself chaste.

The basic
guidelines with regard to informing a suitor about illness in the
prospective wife are as follows:

1.

if the
sickness will have any impact on married life and will affect the wife’s
ability to fulfil her duties towards her husband and children;

2.

if it will
be off-putting to the husband because of its appearance or smell;

3.

if it is
real and permanent, and is not something imagined or temporary that will
disappear with the passage of time or after marriage.

The
scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:

There is a
young woman who is occasionally affected by periods of insanity, then it
goes away again, and she goes back to normal for a period that may be long
or short. Sometimes prospective suitors come to propose marriage to her, the
family finds it difficult to arrange a marriage for her, because they do not
know how to tell the prospective suitor about the situation and they are
very hesitant, which leads to missing out on the opportunity to get married.
Recently the family have decided that they would rather get her married to a
person who has some kind of disability or other problem, so that it will be
easier for him to accept her. Now there is a potential suitor who is
infertile, and another who is the son of her paternal aunt, who has proposed
to her and has stated that he is aware of her illness. But the problem is
that the mother of this young man – i.e., the paternal aunt of the girl –
has the same sickness, and when we asked the doctor what he thought about
this marriage, he said that he did not recommend it, because the probability
of having children who were affected by the same illness was great.

My
question is: what is the Islamic ruling on such a marriage? If it turns out
that it produces a child who is also ill, will we have the ones who are
responsible for that, as we would have played a role in bringing about this
marriage? Please note that the possibility of producing children who are
also ill is great.

They
replied:

You should
not prevent the girl from getting married, and you should give her in
marriage to this man who has come to propose to her, and leave the matter to
Allah. You should ignore the doctor’s advice which is based on probability,
because marriage serves a purpose for both parties and protects the girl
from the risk of spinsterhood, on condition that she agrees to marry the man
of whom her guardian approves for her.

Shaykh
‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abdullah
ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal ash-Shaykh.

Fataawa
al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah,
18/194

They were
also asked:

If a girl
has a problem in the uterus or with her menstrual cycle that requires
treatment which may delay any chance of bearing children, should the suitor
be told about that?

They
replied:

If this
problem is something temporary, something that happens to women then
disappears, then it is not necessary to tell the suitor about it. But if
this problem is a serious disease or it is not a minor, temporary problem,
and the proposal comes when she still has this problem and has not been
healed of it, then in that case her guardian must inform the suitor of it.
End quote.

Shaykh
‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal-ash-Shaykh, Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan,Shaykh
Bakr Abu Zayd

Fataawa
al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah,
19/15

Shaykh
Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen was asked:

There is a
man who proposed marriage to a woman, but it is known that this woman has a
physical defect, which is hidden and not obvious, and there is the hope that
it may be cured, like leprosy and vitiligo. Should the suitor be told about
that?

He
replied:

If a man
proposes marriage to a woman, and she has a hidden defect, and there are
people who know about it, then if the suitor asks about her, it is
obligatory to disclose it. This is quite clear. But if he does not ask, then
he should be told about it because this comes under the heading of sincere
advice, especially if it is something that there is no hope of it going
away. But if there is hope of it going away, then this is easier. However
there are things that may go away, but they go away slowly, such as leprosy
for example – if it is true that it may go away, but up till now we know
nothing to suggest that it may go away. So there is a difference between
that which it is hoped will go away soon and that which it is hoped will go
away later on. End quote.

Liqaa’aat
al-Baab al-Maftooh,
5/ question no. 22.