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Sterility (uqm) and its effect on marriage

العُقْم

In the lexicon, uqm is a dryness that prevents conception; a woman who cannot conceive is barren, and the word is used of a man who cannot father children 1 2. The jurists recommend that a man marrying choose a fertile virgin, since the law encourages offspring and forbids what blocks them; a report discourages marrying a barren woman 2 3. The majority hold that sterility is not a defect that dissolves a marriage; al-Hasan alone gives the option of withdrawal at the start of the marriage, and the majority do not require a spouse who knows of his or her sterility to disclose it before the contract 3. Full blood-money is due for injuring the power to conceive or to impregnate, and cutting off offspring by medicine is forbidden 3.

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Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Family, marriage and kinshipHealth, body and death

Summary

In the lexicon, uqm is a dryness that prevents conception; a woman who cannot conceive is barren, and the word is used of a man who cannot father children 1 2.

Encouragement of offspring

A man who wants to marry is recommended to choose a fertile virgin; the law encourages offspring and forbids what blocks it 2 3.

Sterility and the marriage contract

The majority hold that sterility does not dissolve a marriage; al-Hasan alone gives the option at the start of the marriage. The majority do not require disclosure of sterility before the contract 3.

Injury to the power to conceive

Full blood-money is due for injuring the power to conceive or to impregnate; cutting off offspring by medicine is forbidden 3.

People and things also explored

Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss· Pregnant woman (hamil) in fiqh· Janin (the unborn child)· The death and burial of Fatima bint Muhammad· The dosing of the Prophet during his illness· The Big Sick· Taj Mahal

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11773
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11774
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11775
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Sterility (uqm) and its effect on marriage”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/uqm/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)

In the lexicon, afal is a fleshy growth in a woman's genital passage, which arises after childbirth and not in virgins; some say it is a swelling that narrows the passage until penetration is impossible. Some jurists distinguish it from ratq, a closure from birth; both are defects that give an option to end the marriage. The Malikis and Hanbalis hold that it gives the husband an option to annul the marriage, since it defeats the marriage's main purpose; Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf hold that neither spouse has such an option. The Shafi'is count ratq and qaran, another closure, as defects peculiar to women that give the option.