Does the wife's consent to the husband being impotent, expressed after the stipulated waiting period, void her right to annulment?
Chapter on the Term for the Impotent and the Castrated who is not amputated
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
Whenever a wife consents to the husband being impotent, her right to annulment is voided, whether she states this immediately after the contract, after setting the waiting period, or after the period has ended. There is no known difference of opinion regarding the voiding of her right if she consents after the period ends. This consent voids the right because she consented to the defect after the contract, thereby forfeiting her option, just as she would if she consented after the prescribed period.
Supporting text
Ash-Shafi'i's new opinion suggests that if consent occurs before the waiting period ends, her right is not voided because the right to annulment is only established after the period's conclusion, making early waiver invalid, akin to a pre-emptive waiver of pre-emption rights. This view is rejected because the cause for annulment (impotence) exists, and the period merely serves to ascertain its existence and her knowledge of it, making it comparable to evidence in other defects, unlike pre-emption where the cause (sale) has not yet occurred.