نکاح سے قبل احکام و آداب: آثارِ صحابہؓ کی شرعی رہنمائی اور عصرِ حاضر میں اس کا فقہی و معاشرتی اطلاق کا تجزیاتی مطالعہ

Pre-Marriage Rulings and Etiquettes: A Critical Study of the Sharʿī Guidance from the Athār of the Ṣaḥābah and Its Juristic and Social Applications in Contemporary Times

Abstract

This research presents a critical and comprehensive study of pre-marriage rulings, guidelines, and ethical principles derived from the Āthār of the Ṣaḥābah رضي الله عنهم and analyzes their relevance and applicability in contemporary Muslim societies. Drawing upon primary classical sources such as Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah and Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq, the paper examines how the Companions understood and practiced essential pre-nuptial matters, including early marriage following puberty, prioritizing piety and compatibility in selecting a spouse, and recognizing marriage as a means of increasing sustenance rather than restricting it. The study further explores the permissibility of the suitor viewing the prospective bride, maintaining limited purposeful communication during engagement, ensuring the explicit consent of both virgin and previously married women, and placing special emphasis on securing the approval of orphan girls. Additional topics include the legality of child betrothal, avoidance of marriage during severe famine, allowing the sick to marry, preference for virgins in first marriages, and presenting appropriately adorned girls to create lawful interest among suitors. Each athar is analyzed in terms of authenticity, classical juristic interpretation, and its practical implications for the modern context—particularly addressing issues such as delayed marriages due to career pursuits, materialistic criteria in spouse selection, forced marriages, misuse of pre-wedding interactions, and the societal neglect of orphan girls. The study concludes that adherence to the Sunnah and the methodology of the Ṣaḥābah provides a balanced, ethical, and protective framework capable of countering moral corruption and promoting stable, spiritually grounded marital relationships today.