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 Burhan, I am afraid you did not answer my question properly. I dont want to know rasm of marriage. I want to know what is essential of Nikah. I qazi and 2 witness required. Regarding witness you had send me a copy of previous answered question which says that 2 witness is must. Pl. qoute the Quranic verse to support your answer. I read in Dai ul Islam that no witness is required for Nikah. Witness are required for divorce only. Thanks for your answer for "Khums" jazkallah kheir

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Answer:

Witness for 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.

There is no specific aayah in the Holy Quran which makes the presence of two witness obligatory. This command is from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 9.98 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "A virgin should not be married till she is asked for her consent; and the matron should not be married till she is asked whether she agrees to marry or not." It was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! How will she (the virgin) express her consent?" He said, "By keeping silent." Some people said, "If a virgin is not asked for her consent and she is not married, and then a man, by playing a trick presents two false witnesses that he has married her with her consent and the judge confirms his marriage as a true one, and the husband knows that the witnesses were false ones, then there is no harm for him to consummate his marriage with her and the marriage is regarded as valid."

In Islam, the marriage is not made a private affair, but rather it is a preferred Sunnah that when one marries, he gives a wedding feast or ‘walima’ to announce to the society that he is married.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.395 Narrated by Anas

The Prophet seeing a yellow mark (of perfume) on the clothes of 'Abdur-Rahman bin 'Auf, said, "What about you?" ' Abdur-Rahman replied, "I have married a woman with a Mahr of gold equal to a date-stone." The Prophet (saws) said, "May Allah bestow His Blessing on you (in your marriage). Give a wedding banquet, (Walima) even with one sheep."

Your Statement: I read in Dai ul Islam that no witness is required for Nikah. Witness are required for divorce only.

Dear Brother, I am positive that there has been a mistake in your understanding of the Daim-ul-Islam. There are a lot of discrepancies in the Daim-ul-Islam, but I doubt if such a basic Sunnah is misrepresented in the book. Besides, our source of guidance as believers should always be the Quran and Sunnah, and no other source. All the scholars in Islam are unanimous in this opinion that for a marriage to be recognized as legal, there must be two witnesses.

In fact, there are no witnesses required for Divorce in Islam. If a person declares the divorces, and he confirms he has declared the divorces, then there is no need for any witnesses.

We would appreciate if you could give us the Paragraph/Page number of where it is written in the Daim-ul-Islam that there are no witnesses required for marriage, and that divorce requires witnesses!

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