QUESTION: Supposing that a man hath wed a certain
woman believing her to be a virgin and he hath paid her
the dowry, but at the time of consummation it becometh
evident that she is not a virgin, are the expenses and the
dowry to be repaid or not? And if the marriage had been
made conditional upon virginity, doth the unfulfilled
condition invalidate that which was conditioned upon
it?
ANSWER: In such a case the expenses and the
dowry may be refunded. The unfulfilled condition
invalidateth that which is conditioned upon it.
However, to conceal and forgive the matter will,
in the sight of God, merit a bounteous reward.
(Baha'u'llah: Aqdas: Questions and Answers, Page: 121)
I find this interesting. It talks about marriage being made conditional
upon virginity, addressing what to do if at the time of consummation is
becomes evident that the woman is not a virgin. I'm a little puzzled as to
how it could become evident that a woman is not a virgin at consummation.
Unless there is some other way to know, the only sign I can think of in this
connection is whether the woman's hymen has been broken. However, the hymen
is sometimes broken by means other than intercourse, so this is not a
conclusive proof that a person is not a virgin, and I hardly think it would
make it "evident" that the person is not a virgin. I would suspect the way
things were in Iran at the time of Baha'u'llah this would not happen as much
as it would today. Does what Baha'u'llah says mean that women would have to
give the dowry back (if requested) if their hymen is broken? I guess
Baha'u'llah leaves the husband open to do what he wants, so if the wife
insisted that her hymen was broken in some other way he wouldn't have to
demand the dowry back. The whole law is based on it being "evident" that
the woman is a virgin, so one would think the husband would be allowed to
get the dowry back from finding whatever "evident" sign, even if it didn't
prove the woman wasn't a virgin. The question is whether the man could get
the dowry back if he believed the woman to be a virgin. It doesn't say that
this belief is based on asking the woman if she is a virgin, so I will
assume this isn't the case. I don't think honesty about virginity has
anything to do with the issue. Is there some conclusive way of knowing
whether a woman is a virgin I don't know about, one that would be noticed at
the tiem of consummation?
Regards,
David
_________________________________________________________________
Gaming galore at http://xtramsn.co.nz/gaming !
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