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Fatwa CenterHer abusive father wants to marry her off to a man she does not like
Question
Assalamu Alikum My family has wrong me so bad. They have called me throwing something hard, throwing words out of mouth, aspersing and slandering my chastity. my dad called me whore and my brother said im pregnant when iam free from this. They said we married you off to my cousin when i object and said thats invalid because they are saying your parents can marry their daughters without their permission. I cried hard because they wrong me so bad. My family did not have infleunce or did have much to do in my ubringing. My dad did not have much in raising me. He insluted the Masjid and the sheikh in saying he is knows better when he does not even know the tafisr of the Quran or arabic etc.. When i say lets speak from the shari'a im belittle. im African .My family do not like other races of Muslims because one pious African brother asked my hand but they turned him away and spoke bad about him because he is black. Im very hurt. Why are they doing this?
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.
It is impermissible for your father or brother to accuse you of Zina (fornication or adultery) without evidence, otherwise, this will be a slandering which is prohibited in Sharee’ah, given that Allaah The Almighty threatened to punish him who accuses falsely the chaste woman of Zina, Saying (what means): {Indeed, those who [falsely] accuse chaste, unaware and believing women are cursed in this world and the Hereafter; and they will have a great punishment On a Day when their tongues, their hands and their feet will bear witness against them as to what they used to do. That Day, Allaah will pay them in full their deserved recompense, and they will know that it is Allaah who is the perfect in justice.}[Quran 24:23-25]
Nevertheless, it is due on you to keep yourself away from anything which causes others to accuse you of what you do not do. Of course, it is not imaginable that a father accuses his daughter or a brother accuses his sister of such a grave crime unless she has done what arouses his suspicion. So, be eager, dear sister, to avoid all suspicious situations.
As regards your father’s giving you in marriage to your paternal cousin without your consent, then it is a controversial issue among the scholars who differed on whether or not it is permissible for the father to force his virgin daughter into marriage. The preponderant view in our opinion is that it is valid to give the virgin in marriage without her consent, though this marriage would not be complete except with her approval. So, if her guardian concludes the wedding contract without her consent, she has the right to rescind it.
As for the non-virgin, it is impermissible to give her in marriage without her consent, and if it is done, the marriage (contract) would be void. Ibn Qudaamah 
said in “Al-Mughni”: “If a man gives his non-virgin daughter in marriage without her consent, the marriage would be void, even if she gave her approval afterwards.”
What is meant here by the non-virgin is the woman whose virginity has been taken away in marriage. For further information, see Fatwa 107785 about the fact that the father has no right to give his daughter in marriage without her consent. Also, a father has no right to reject the one who demands her hand if he is suitable match for her as has previously been clarified in Fataawa 156905 and 89098.
Dear sister, first of all, we advise you to fear Allaah The Almighty and try to persuade your father about your desire not to marry the man to whom he married you off without your consent, provided that you should do so in a kind and gentle manner. If he persisted in his opinion, you have the right to take the case to the Sharee‘ah-based court, or whoever acts on behalf of the Sharee‘ah judge in the Islamic centers, in case you are in a country where there are no Sharee‘ah-based courts, so that he would be prevented from giving you in marriage to a man for whom you have no desire, or to rescind the wedding contract in case it has been concluded.
This is the case if you are still a virgin, as it seems from the question. But if you are a non-virgin, you know now, from what we have mentioned, that giving you in marriage without your permission is void.
Allaah Knows best.
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