On forced marriages
In the first hadith, Imam al-Sadiq advises his close companion Ibn Ya’fur to marry a woman he desires - versus the woman his parents want.
As a demonstration of this idea, when (in the 2nd hadith), Imam al-Sadiq pressured Imam al-Kadhim to marry his cousin - Imam al-Kadhim relented, but he compared the situation to him climbing the wall to escape whenever he’s in a room alone with his wife. And he divorced her after his father (Imam al-Sadiq)’s death.
(Al-Kafi, volume 5, page 401)
“I told Abi Abdilah [al-Sadiq]:
I desire to marry a woman, however, my parents desire that I marry another woman.
He [the Imam] said: Marry the one you desire and leave aside the one your parents desire.”
حميد بن زياد، عن الحسن بن محمد بن سماعة، عن علي بن الحسن بن رباط، عن حبيب الخثعمي، عن ابن أبي يعفور، عن أبي عبد الله(عليه السلام) قال: قلت له: إني أريد أن أتزوج امرأة وإن أبوي أرادا غيرها، قال: تزوج التي هويت ودع التي يهوي أبواك.
(Al-Kafi, volume 6, page 55)
Imam al-Kadhim tells his companion Khattab:
“O Khattab, my father had married me to one of my cousins - and she was bad in character.
[The situation] was such that my father would perhaps close the door upon me and her, in hopes I would see her.
Instead however, I would climb the wall and run away from her.
When my father [i.e, Imam al-Sadiq] died - I divorced her.
So I [narrator] said: Allahu Akbar! He [Imam al-Kadhim] answered my query without me even asking him”
يا خطاب كان أبي زوجني ابنة عم لي وكانت سيئة الخلق وكان أبي ربما أغلق علي وعليها الباب رجاء أن ألقاها فأتسلق الحائط (2) وأهربمنها فلما مات أبي طلقتها فقلت: الله أكبر أجابني والله عن حاجتي من غير مسألة
