Question 1874: Does a man have the option to annul a marriage if he knows the woman is not a virgin?

Question

A man asks if he can annul his marriage to a woman if he was aware that she was not a virgin at the time of marriage. [AR_ID:5377]

Answer 1

Peace be upon you.

Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Sistani (may Allah protect him):

- According to the premise of the question, he does not have the option to annul the marriage since he entered into the contract with knowledge of her condition. He would only have the right to annul if the presence of virginity was explicitly mentioned in the contract as a condition or description, or if it was described as such before the contract during the engagement and negotiations, and then the contract was based on that. Mere belief that she is a virgin does not grant him the right to annul if it turns out otherwise. Furthermore, if he does have the right to annul and chooses to do so, he is not entitled to reclaim the dowry if consummation has occurred, unless the woman was the one who misled him; if someone else misled him, he may seek recourse against that person.

The right to annul, if established, is immediate, and he should not delay in exercising it in a manner that would be considered negligent. Engaging in intimacy before exercising the option would result in the loss of that right due to its contradiction with the immediacy required.

- There is also a possibility that by 'not a virgin' you mean a condition that causes the urinary and menstrual passages to be united, or the union of menstrual and excretory passages. In this case, the ruling remains unchanged since the premise of the question is that the husband was aware of her condition before marrying her. However, the ruling regarding the condition of not being a virgin differs from that of virginity in that the husband's option here is based on obligatory precaution. This means that if the husband chooses to annul, he must also proceed with a divorce, and if he wishes to return to her, he must renew the contract.

Source: Minhaj al-Salihin - Vol. 3 - Option of Defect and Deception - M262 + 263 + Marriage - Its Recommendation and Some of Its Etiquettes and Rulings - M 12 + Official website.

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Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Khamenei (may Allah protect him):

- According to the premise of the question, he does not have the option to annul the marriage since he entered into the contract with knowledge of her condition. If a man marries a woman on the condition that she is a virgin (still intact), and the wife agrees to this condition, or the contract is based on it, or she is described as a virgin, and it later turns out that she was not a virgin, the husband has the option to either accept the marriage or annul the contract. However, if he married her without stipulating virginity and later finds out she is not a virgin, he does not have the option to annul; he only has the right to divorce if he does not wish to continue the marriage.

- There is also a possibility that by 'not a virgin' you mean a condition that causes the urinary and menstrual passages to be united. In this case, the ruling remains unchanged since the premise of the question is that the husband was aware of her condition before marrying her. However, if he was unaware and the condition existed before the contract, he would have the option to annul.

Source: Fiqh al-Wali - On the Rulings of Spouses - Stipulating Virginity + Tahrir al-Wasilah - On Defects Leading to the Option of Annulment and Deception - Specific to Women + 11 + Tahrir al-Wasilah - Marriage - Its Etiquettes and Rulings - M 12

May you be successful in all good.