Jāhilī Marriage Forms

The four forms of marriage in the Jahiliyya, as given in the hadith of 'A'isha which Abu Dawud related and The Sealed Nectar transmits, are: the ordinary marriage of today, the istibda' marriage, the rahṭ marriage and the baghaya marriage. When the Prophet ﷺ was sent, he abolished all the marriages of the people of the Jahiliyya except the marriage of Islam of today ^{1 2 3}.

• Ordinary marriage: a man asks another man for his ward, gives her a dowry, and then marries her ¹.
• Istibda' marriage: a husband would say to his wife, when she was clean from her menses, "Send for so-and-so and seek his seed." Her husband would withdraw from her and not touch her until her pregnancy by that man became clear. Once it was clear, her husband would approach her if he wished. They did this out of desire for noble offspring ^{1 2}.
• Rahṭ marriage: a group of fewer than ten men would gather and all go in to one woman. When she conceived and gave birth, and some nights had passed, she would send for them, and none of them could refuse to come. When they had gathered before her, she would say: "You know what has been your affair, and I have borne a child, and he is your son, O so-and-so," naming whichever of them she chose, and the child would be attributed to him ².
• Baghaya marriage: many men would gather and go in to a woman who did not refuse whoever came to her. These were the prostitutes, who would set up banners at their doors as a sign for whoever wanted them. When one of them conceived and gave birth, they gathered for her, summoned the qafa (experts in tracing lineage), and then attributed her child to whomever they judged. He was attached to that man and called his son ².

When God sent Muhammad, he abolished all the marriages of the people of the Jahiliyya except the marriage of Islam of today ^{2 3}.

They took multiple wives without a known limit, combined two sisters in marriage, and married the wives of their fathers after the men divorced them or died leaving them. The verses al-Nisa' 22 and al-Nisa' 23 were revealed on this. Divorce was in the hands of men, with no fixed limit. Commentators cite this practice as the occasion of revelation for the verse on two divorces (al-Baqara 229) ^{2 4}. See Social conditions.

The exchange marriage (nikah al-badal), the shighar marriage and the other marriage forms of the Jahiliyya that the jurists list are not in these pages. The hadith is given in brief here; its full text is in Abu Dawud.