عنوس (کنواری بیٹھی عورت)

العَنُوس

In the lexicon, 'anus is a woman whose marriage is delayed after she reaches the age and stays in her family's house; the word is also used of a man whose marriage is late, and its plural is 'unnas ¹. The obstruction of a marriage by a guardian can be a cause of a woman remaining unmarried ². The jurists differ on treating the spinster as a virgin in matters of compulsion and consent: the majority hold she remains like a virgin in the guardian's power to compel her, while some Malikis and Shafi'is treat her like a previously married woman once her virginity is lost ². The jurists do not fix a single age for spinsterhood; some give a range from twenty to forty, and others refer it to custom ². The father must maintain an unmarried daughter until she marries ².