Nikah 'urfi - Sunni View

Sunni View

In the Islamic law (Shari`ah) all marriages are done with two witnesses, a guardian of the female (under normal circumstances it would be the father) and there is no need for any written or verbal contract of the type mentioned in this article for the marriage at all, except if the woman wishes then she can set conditions for her husband (none of which must be against Islam in any way) like "I want you to study the Qur'an hard and study to become a scholar of Islam". The only part of a contract in marriage that is absolutely necessary is that it is agreed to by the man and the woman to be married and whether it is verbal or written makes no difference, hence the witnesses.

With regard to “ ‘urfi marriage” – there are two types of this: 1 – Where the woman is married in secret, without the agreement of her wali (guardian). If that is the case then it is a haraam marriage contract which is not valid, because the agreement of the wali is one of the conditions of the marriage contract being valid. وعن أبي موسى قال : قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : " لا نكاح إلا بولي " .

It was narrated that Abu Moosa said: Muhammad said: “There is no marriage without a guardian.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1101; Abu Dawood, 2085; Ibn Maajah, 1881. )

It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah said: Muhammad said: Any woman who gets married without the permission of her guardian, بغير إذن وليها فنكاحها باطل فنكاحها باطل ، فنكاحها باطل her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. But if the marriage is consummated then the mahr is hers because she has allowed him to be intimate with her. If they dispute, then the ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1102; Abu Dawood, 2083; Ibn Maajah, 1879. )

2 – It should also be noted that some of the fuqaha’ say that publicizing the marriage is one of the conditions of it being valid, which is not far from the truth.

Publicizing the marriage demonstrates the difference between marriage and immoral relationships. This is supported by the words of Muhammad: “The difference between what is halaal and what is haraam is beating the daff and raising the voice at weddings.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1088; al-Nasaa’i, 3369; Ibn Maajah, 1896. Ibn al-Qayyim said: The Lawgiver has stipulated four conditions for marriage in addition to the marriage contract, in order for there to be no suspicion of immoral conduct: it should be publicized, there should be a wali (woman’s guardian), the woman should not do the marriage contract herself and it is mustahabb to beat the daff and raise voices (in song) and give a waleemah (wedding feast), because that does away with the means that may lead to immoral actions under the guise of being married.