Meaning
What is intended by the person "in whose hand is the marital contract"?
Answer
Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) summarized the scholars' opinions in his book "Zād al-Masīr" as follows:
- It refers to the husband. [ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās, Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, Ibn al-Musayyib, Ibn Jubayr, Mujāhid, Shurayḥ, Jābir ibn Zayd, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, Ibn Shubrumah, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal] According to this view, the husband grants her the full dowry. Ibn al-Jawzī: The first opinion is most correct, because the "contract of marriage" has passed out of the hand of the guardian and is now in the hand of the husband.
- It refers to the woman's guardian. [Reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Ḥasan, ʿAlqamah, Ṭāwūs, al-Shaʿbī, Ibrāhīm, among others] According to this view, the guardian relinquishes her right if she refuses [to accept it].
- For a virgin, it refers to her father. [Reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Zuhrī, al-Suddī] According to this view, the phrase "Except that they (the women) forgo" specifically applies to women who have been married before, and the phrase "or the one in whose hand is the marriage tie," specifically refers to the father of a virgin girl.

