What is the validity of a simultaneous marriage contract to a free woman and a female relative (like a paternal cousin) when one of the intended wives is a minor?
Chapter on What is Prohibited to Marry and Combining Between Them and Other Matters
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
When a man simultaneously contracts marriage to a free woman and another woman (such as a cousin), and accepts both in a single contract offer, the contract regarding the free woman is valid, while the contract regarding the other woman is voided. A parallel ruling exists when he contracts marriage to a free woman and a slave woman; the marriage to the free woman is established, and the contract concerning the slave woman is separated (voided). This opinion is established by the explicit statement concerning this matter.
Supporting text
There are two other scholarly views regarding this simultaneous contract. One view holds that both marriages are void because a single utterance combined both a lawful and an unlawful pairing, similar to simultaneously contracting marriage to two sisters. The other view, considered the more apparent of the two narrations, maintains that the marriage to the free woman is valid. This latter view is supported by Malik, Al-Thawri, and the Ashab al-Ra'y (jurists of opinion).