Marriage

[NJaf]

Salam,

I have a question which is quite specific.

Is the following situation permissible (halal):

I marry a woman at the age of 22. We are both the same age. Her father is paying her university tuition for her 4 years (18-22) of undergraduate education while my father is paying my 5 years (18-23) of medical school. Throughout the process of undergraduate school and medical school our parents will pay for our living expenses but we will both be working to pitch into our living expenses while being able to treat ourselves to outings and such, these are 9-5 part time jobs which give us about $10,000-$40,000 USD per year. After the 5 years I will begin to start making proper money ($60,000-$90,000 USD per year) at residency where I can financially support myself. I will not need to pay my father back until by the age of 30 or so. So essentially I will not be able to pay for the girl’s tuition and such for a while, but I can treat her to outings sometimes as well as cover some small expenses. Is this marriage acceptable (permissible/halal) considering that she and her parents are totally accepting that I can’t financially support her at the time but I can be there for her in all other aspects? We want to be married so we can grow and learn together from and with each other and set ourselves up for a good future and family with a strong start of learning and growing.

So clearly (and repeated) stated, the question was: Is this marriage acceptable (permissible/halal) considering that she and her parents are totally accepting that I can’t financially support her at the time but I can be there for her in all other aspects?

Thank you.

[Shian e Ali]

Wa alaykom asalam,

Yes.

[Guest Adab al-Sunnah]

While a man has the responsibility to provide, it's foreseeable that this does materialize. Young people are a great example, because since you have attained the age of responsibility, it has been your own responsibility to work and provide for yourself. That being said, nobody takes issue with people living with their parents and relying on them through school, such as for extended educations such as yourself.

Similar with marriage, if someone else takes on the responsibility of providing for you or your spouse, alhamdulillah. That's not a reason to be lazy of course, but if you are studying, there is no reason to delay the Prized Tradition of the prophet of Islam in order to satisfy some expectation that you must feed your wife from your own hand.

Muwaffaq bashin.