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:

Brother Burhan,

Once the obligatory requirements regarding proposal, acceptance and Mehr have ben met then as to the winesses, It is my understanding that the requirement is as follows:

1. Two male witnesses

2. One male and two female witnesses

and further that if no witnesses are available then the man and woman may call upon Allah to witness that they are married and the man and woman may then consider themselves married.

Please let me know if my understanding is incorrect. Thank you.

(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:

Secret marriage witnesses

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.

The main wisdom behind the having of two witnesses is that a marriage in Islam is not a secret or hidden affair between two people , but rather a sacred covenant between two people who commit in front of witnesses to love, respect, and cherish one another for the rest of their lives; and further it is amongst the preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to hold a marriage banquet or ‘walima’ to announce to the society at large of their joyous covenant.

Islam has made it an obligatory condition of marriage that at least two witnesses must be present to witness the sacred contract, and as an exception under specific circumstances, where one is getting married in a place where he cannot even find two believers as witnesses, one male and two female witnesses would fulfill the obligatory requirement of believers having witnessed the marriage contract.

But under absolutely no circumstances can a man and woman be married in Islam without the presence of human witnesses; such a marriage would not be recognized in Shariah and in the sight of Allah Subhanah, and this contract done in secrecy between a man and a woman will be regarded as absolutely null and void.

Islam absolutely prohibits secret marriages, where there are no witnesses, and marriage is made into a secret affair between two people! There is no place on earth where a couple who wish to get married cannot find two believing witnesses to witness their marriage, if indeed their intentions are not to keep their relationship secret! It is only those who have the intention of marrying in secrecy who have a difficulty in finding witnesses to their marriage; and to have a secret marriage is against the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws).

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