Is My Marriage Valid With One Male and Female Witness in the Presence of People?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My late wife and I (both 25) married two years ago in a state institution that lawfully recognizes marriages between people but isn’t related to Islamic institutions, as Bosnia is a secular state. The official witnesses were a cousin (male) and a friend (female), although our parents, brothers, and sisters were present while our marriage contract was made. My wife is no longer alive, and when she was, due to some circumstances, we didn’t perform a “Sharia wedding,” which is separate from the secular one we performed, so there was no mention of mahr.
My question is: Are all of the people who were present in the making of the marriage contract considered witnesses even without leaving their signatures, and is our marriage Islamically valid?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
The marriage is still valid if the marriage ceremony (nikah) was performed in the presence of people with offer and acceptance heard by them.
What is Important in a Marriage Ceremony?
The most important matter in a marriage contract ceremony is the presence of two males or one male witness and two female witnesses to witness the marriage. This is why if the bride and groom just offer and accept by presenting themselves to a valid number and gender of witnesses or a mixed group of people, the marriage will be valid.
Marriage is concluded and contracted with the offer and acceptance in the presence of two male witnesses or one male and two female witnesses. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]
Related:
- Etiquette of Marriage: A Comprehensive SeekersGuidance Reader
- Love, Marriage, and Relationships in Islam: All Your Questions Answered (seekersguidance.org)
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
