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 borther Burhan,

I have submitted you question received from Mr. Zafar and on receiving various mails from you i have sent to Mr. Zafar and he still has some confusions. Would you please clarify them. JazakaAllah Khair.

I am very much thankful to you for the replies from Mr. Burhan on the Marriage in Islam. Lot of things have become clear on this issue but it has also created doubts about the authenticity of a marriage.

I will brief what I have gathered from the replies.

1. A Wali is required for a marriage (excluding Hanafi School of thought)
2. The essentials of a marriage are
a).The man woman are non-mehram.
b).The man and woman to agree to the marriage.
c).Two witnesses
d). Mehr should be agreed upon.

The case I discussed with you did not follow all the above requirements as
a). There was no Mehr fixed
b) There was no Wali
c) It was a secret marriage only known to the 2 witnesses. The witnesses were also
unknown people.

When the matter of Wali came to their knowledge the boy divorced the girl considering the marriage wrong under the islamic Laws, they later arranged and got married with proper Nikah, Wali and Mehr and the consent of the girl family in her country. The girl family was not aware of their earlier marriage.

My questions are as follows:

Q 1. Was their 1st marriage acceptable under the circumstances.
Q 2. If the first marriage was acceptable it mean the Divorce also became applicable. Under this situation what is the status of their re-marriage.
Q 3. What they should do to ratify all the mistakes and live thier lives in accordance with the requirements of Islam.

I shall appreciate your help in clarifying these issues

Allah Hafiz

(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:

Married again

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.

Q-1: Was their 1st marriage acceptable under the circumstances.

If the man proposes and the woman accepts his proposal to marriage, and there are two witnesses to this agreement or contract, and the man intends to fix and pay the mehr amount at a later date; some scholars in Islam are of the opinion that although the marriage without the approval of the ‘wali’ is improper in the spirit, in the letter of the law the marriage will be absolutely valid and the man and woman will be deemed legally wedded to each other according to Shariah.

Q-2: If the first marriage was acceptable it mean the Divorce also became applicable. Under this situation what is the status of their re-marriage.
The first marriage was legal and valid, and if for any reason or misunderstanding of the law or for any other reason whatsover the husband pronounced a ‘divorce’ to his wife; the divorce will become applicable and count as one divorce.

Thus, if the couple re-married again after their ‘one’ divorce, the re-marriage is absolutely fine and in accordance with the Shariah, and they can continue to live as a husband and wife. The husband has used up one of this three divorce rights, and has a balance of only two ‘divorces’ left, which if both are used, they would be irrevocably divorced and cannot re-marry unless the woman marries another man and her new husband divorces her of his own free will or dies.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 229: Divorce may be pronounced twice (by the husband); then either keep the wife with honor, or let her leave gracefully. And it is not lawful for you to take back anything out of what you have given them. There is however, an exception to this; if you fear that they might not be able to keep within the limits imposed by Allah, there is no harm if both agree mutually that the wife should obtain divorce by giving something as compensation to the husband. These are the bounds set by Allah; therefore do not violate them! For those who violate the bounds of Allah are the transgressors.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 231: And when you have divorced your wives and they are about to complete their prescribed terms, then either retain them gracefully or release them generously. It is transgression to retain them merely for harassment. And whoever does that indeed wrongs his own self! Do not play with Allah’s Commandments, and remember that Allah has blessed you with a great favor. He admonishes you to show due respect to the Book and the Wisdom He has sent to you. Fear Allah and know that He is fully aware of everything.

Q-3: What they should do to ratify all the mistakes and live thier lives in accordance with the requirements of Islam.
Their first marriage was legal in the sight of the Shariah; their ‘one’ divorce, although given in ignorance of the law, will be counted and applied as one divorce in their marriage; and their second marriage with a proper ‘Nikaah’ will be regarded as their second ‘nikaah’ after their ‘one’ divorce. Thus they may remain together as husband and wife in the sacred bond of marriage.

Although legally everything worked out for the couple, the husband and the wife should seek sincere repentance with Allah Subhanah for trying to make a mockery of the Shariah Laws of the Lord All-Mighty, amend their conduct, and live their lives in the reverence and fear of Allah Subhanah.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54: (O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136: Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54: When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

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