Marriage of one who is mentally deficient
Question I have a brother who is 30 years old and wants to get married, but he has a problem which I will sum up as follows. He is a regular person, with a good memory, his body is healthy and he looks fine; he can tell men and women apart and he understands when…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
It is permissible for him to get married, but his situation
must be explained clearly to the guardian of his wife and the wife must be
told about the deficiencies in his mental understanding and ability to
discern matters, and that he does not understand the meanings of marriage
and divorce, and the rights and duties of marriage, and that he does not
know how to pray properly, and that he does not have a job and does not have
any qualifications, and that he does not have enough knowledge to know what
will benefit him or what will harm him. Then if he does get married, his
brother or his father will have to supervise him and take care of his needs,
and ensure that he has accommodation and money to spend, and other things
that are needed for marriage such as the mahr (dowry) and the like, because
this deficiency is regarded as a fault for which the marriage may be
annulled. But if his situation is explained clearly to the woman and her
guardian, then the Muslims are bound by their conditions.
