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Fatwa #1404113 March 2006United States of America

did not hear the nikah khutbah nor was i asked if i wantd to get married to the guy so at that time i did not say 'qabool" and i din't sign anything ...so is my nikah still valid?

Question

I got married recently but i'mnot sure if the marriage was valid because a few weeks before having the nikah me and my husband went to the court to sign the application so that we could get a marriage certificate. and on the day of the nikah i did not hear the nikah khutbah nor was i asked if i wantd to get married to the guy so at that time i did not say 'qabool" and i din't sign anything ...so is my nikah still valid? at the court there was my father and the lady who was making us fill out the form

Answer

The prestine Shari’ah has set out guidelines and has regulated each and every action of a person’s life including the institution of Nikah in order to protect the welfare of the prospective husband and wife. Amongst these guidelines is that the prospective bride’s permission should be sought for her proposed marriage. However, if a third party, e.g. bride’s father gets her married without her permission, the Nikah will not be invalid. Rather, the validity thereof will depend on whether she accepts the Nikah thereafter or not. (Raddul Muhtar vol.3 pg.59; HM Saeed)

Furthermore, the Nikah is essentially a verbal contract in the presence of witnesses, i.e. you are not required to sign anything. Also, the Nikah is enacted on behalf of the wife by proxy, i.e. she is not required to be present in the Musjid or to hear the Nikah Khutbah. Therefore, if your Nikah has been performed without your permission being sought but you approve of it, your Nikah is valid.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

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