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Fatwa CenterProposing to a baby girl in jest
Question
Please help me. A girl was born, and a father declared to a boy (who was a little grown up) that if he gave him one cent, then the girl was his (as a proposal). So the boy hurriedly accepted and gave the money. Now they grew up, and the boy is older and has married another girl, bet he still calling that girl his wife-to-be and irritates the girl's mom by calling her his mother-in-law. The girl does not know the reason behind him calling her that. Now the girl has been proposed to by another boy, and the marriage is to take place soon, while the boy was not told about it. He only learned about it with five days left and kept quiet. He complains, but what can he do? So is the girl allowed to get married to the second man who proposed her now? And what about the first proposal of the boy? Is it allowed? Please help me.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Apparently – and Allah knows best – there is no religious impediment that this girl accepts this man's marriage proposal if he is an eligible suitor for her. That other proposal (when she was born) should not be taken into consideration because it was apparently not serious (done in jest). The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that there are three things only which are valid and have legal implications whether they are done seriously or in jest in the following hadeeth: Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “There are three things which, whether undertaken seriously or in jest, are treated as serious: marriage, divorce, and taking back a wife (after a divorce which is not final).” [Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi, and Ibn Maajah]
What happened between the girl's father and that boy was a kind of engagement, and not a marriage.
Allah knows best.
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