عقم (بانجھ پن)

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.