Is repentance required for a woman who committed fornication before her marriage can be valid?
Chapter on What is Prohibited to Marry and Combining Between Them and Other Matters
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
The second condition for permitting marriage to a fornicator is that she repents from the Zina. This is the position of Qatadah, Ishaq, and Abu Ubayd. The evidence for this is the verse: 'The adulterer shall not marry any but an adulteress or a polytheist, and the adulteress shall not be married to any but an adulterer or a polytheist,' (Quran 24:3) until the end of the verse, 'and that is forbidden to the believers.' Since she is considered in the ruling of Zina before repentance, the repentance removes this, based on the saying of the Prophet: 'The one who repents from sin is like one who has no sin,' and 'Repentance wipes away misdeeds.' Furthermore, if she persists in Zina, one cannot be secure that she will attribute offspring from another man to him and corrupt his lineage.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa, Malik, and Al-Shafi'i state that repentance is not required. Evidence cited includes the report that 'Umar flogged a man and a woman for Zina and sought to marry them to each other, but the man refused. Ibn 'Abbas was asked about marrying a fornicatress and said it is permissible, drawing an analogy to buying stolen goods. The ruling that she must repent is derived from the verse in Surah An-Nur and the hadith concerning Marthad not marrying 'Anak until the verse was revealed, which then prohibited the marriage until she repented. The report concerning 'Umar suggests he sought her repentance, and the statement of Ibn 'Abbas lacks clarity regarding the specific issue of validity post-repentance.