What are the defects that must be disclosed to a potential marriage partner?
Question

                I have been suffering from a mental illness for several years. For a while, I have been praying regularly, reading Qur’an, remembering Allah (dhikr), giving charity and helping people a great deal, and I am much better, but I feel that the illness is still lurking. Is it obligatory for me to inform anyone who proposes marriage to me about that?
Praise be to Allah.
	We ask 
	Allah to heal you and grant you well-being. It seems to us that this illness 
	is not real. If we assume that it is real, then we would say: if this 
	illness would not have any impact on married life or on raising children, 
	then there is no need to inform a prospective marriage partner about it. But 
	if it does have some impact, in the sense that it may result in some 
	problems after marriage that would prevent you from developing bonds of love 
	and creating a tranquil home, then you must tell him about that, because 
	concealing it would be a kind of deceit. It is proven that deceit is 
	forbidden in general terms from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be 
	pleased with him), according to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and 
	peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever 
	deceives (people) does not belong to me.” Narrated by Muslim, 102.

	You should 
	not pay any attention to imaginary things with regard to your illness. Most 
	such things are tricks of the Shaytaan, and are aimed at preventing you from 
	getting married and keeping yourself chaste.

	The basic 
	guidelines with regard to informing a suitor about illness in the 
	prospective wife are as follows:

	1.
	
	if the 
	sickness will have any impact on married life and will affect the wife’s 
	ability to fulfil her duties towards her husband and children;

	2.
	
	if it will 
	be off-putting to the husband because of its appearance or smell;

	3.
	
	if it is 
	real and permanent, and is not something imagined or temporary that will 
	disappear with the passage of time or after marriage.

	The 
	scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:

	There is a 
	young woman who is occasionally affected by periods of insanity, then it 
	goes away again, and she goes back to normal for a period that may be long 
	or short. Sometimes prospective suitors come to propose marriage to her, the 
	family finds it difficult to arrange a marriage for her, because they do not 
	know how to tell the prospective suitor about the situation and they are 
	very hesitant, which leads to missing out on the opportunity to get married. 
	Recently the family have decided that they would rather get her married to a 
	person who has some kind of disability or other problem, so that it will be 
	easier for him to accept her. Now there is a potential suitor who is 
	infertile, and another who is the son of her paternal aunt, who has proposed 
	to her and has stated that he is aware of her illness. But the problem is 
	that the mother of this young man – i.e., the paternal aunt of the girl – 
	has the same sickness, and when we asked the doctor what he thought about 
	this marriage, he said that he did not recommend it, because the probability 
	of having children who were affected by the same illness was great.

	My 
	question is: what is the Islamic ruling on such a marriage? If it turns out 
	that it produces a child who is also ill, will we have the ones who are 
	responsible for that, as we would have played a role in bringing about this 
	marriage? Please note that the possibility of producing children who are 
	also ill is great.

	They 
	replied:

	You should 
	not prevent the girl from getting married, and you should give her in 
	marriage to this man who has come to propose to her, and leave the matter to 
	Allah. You should ignore the doctor’s advice which is based on probability, 
	because marriage serves a purpose for both parties and protects the girl 
	from the risk of spinsterhood, on condition that she agrees to marry the man 
	of whom her guardian approves for her.

	Shaykh 
	‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abdullah 
	ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal ash-Shaykh.

	Fataawa 
	al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah, 
	18/194

	They were 
	also asked:

	If a girl 
	has a problem in the uterus or with her menstrual cycle that requires 
	treatment which may delay any chance of bearing children, should the suitor 
	be told about that?

	They 
	replied:

	If this 
	problem is something temporary, something that happens to women then 
	disappears, then it is not necessary to tell the suitor about it. But if 
	this problem is a serious disease or it is not a minor, temporary problem, 
	and the proposal comes when she still has this problem and has not been 
	healed of it, then in that case her guardian must inform the suitor of it. 
	End quote.

	Shaykh 
	‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal-ash-Shaykh, Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan,Shaykh 
	Bakr Abu Zayd

	Fataawa 
	al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah, 
	19/15

	Shaykh 
	Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen was asked:

	There is a 
	man who proposed marriage to a woman, but it is known that this woman has a 
	physical defect, which is hidden and not obvious, and there is the hope that 
	it may be cured, like leprosy and vitiligo. Should the suitor be told about 
	that?

	He 
	replied:

	If a man 
	proposes marriage to a woman, and she has a hidden defect, and there are 
	people who know about it, then if the suitor asks about her, it is 
	obligatory to disclose it. This is quite clear. But if he does not ask, then 
	he should be told about it because this comes under the heading of sincere 
	advice, especially if it is something that there is no hope of it going 
	away. But if there is hope of it going away, then this is easier. However 
	there are things that may go away, but they go away slowly, such as leprosy 
	for example – if it is true that it may go away, but up till now we know 
	nothing to suggest that it may go away. So there is a difference between 
	that which it is hoped will go away soon and that which it is hoped will go 
	away later on. End quote.

	Liqaa’aat 
	al-Baab al-Maftooh, 
	5/ question no. 22.