Can Muslim solemnize marriage?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum
wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Dear brother Burhan
Assalamu alaikum
Recently I was
appointed a Justice of Peace. One of the powers of the JP is to solemnise marriages.
As a Muslim can I solemnise marriages of Christians or Buddhists or other non Muslims?
Grateful for your
quick response as I have to respond to a request of a colleague who is getting
married next week and who wants me to solemnise
the marriage.
(There
may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum
does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from
our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Can Muslim solemnize marriage?
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone,
and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
If the governing authorities have given a believer the
power to legally solemnize marriages, it does not matter what faith is followed
by the married couple, there is absolutely no harm if the believer, in the
legal capacity given to him by the governing authority, solemnizes the
marriage. The only thing one would be
doing here is verifying that the couple who claim to
have married each other, have indeed been legally married according to their
faith or belief.
But if a couple has not legally married, and the Justice
of Peace or any other person bears false witness knowingly or falsely
solemnizes that they have married; that
would indeed be considered a sin in Islam.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your
Brother in Islam,
Burhan