Fatwa #1413230 March 2006South Africa
a hafiz, he asked to marry over text msg, on his side he had his mom, sister and brother. the girl said yes 3 times in urdu by texting. the girl did not have any witness on her side.
Question
remember, the msg was all texted. he is a hafiz and this was done without parents knowing. i want to know if the nika is vailed and if it is what should the girl do?
Answer
One of the conditions for a marriage to be valid is Shahaadah (witnessing). According to Shari’ah, there must be at least two male witnesses or one male witness and two female witnesses to witness the proposal and acceptance of the boy and girl.
In the text message, at most the family members have been in the presence of the boy when he sent a text message. If he verbally proposed or accepted the marriage, then they have only witnessed his statement not the girl’s statement. At most, they have seen her text message. That is not Shahaadah according to Shari’ah. In order for Shahaadah to be valid, Ittihaad-e-Majlis (one sitting) of both parties is necessary.
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai