Marriage in non-muslim court legal
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:
In the name of
Allah most gracious most merciful.
Assalamu alaikum
wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Please give a
detailed answer to the following.
Would a marriage
be considered legal if not done according to shariah ? Does the witnesses have
to be Muslims ?
(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:
Marriage in
non-muslim court legal
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.
Your question: Would a marriage be considered legal if not
done according to shariah ?
If
by Shariah, one means to say that a man
and a woman get married in secret or at a public registrar, without the required conditions of
Nikaah, then the marriage will not be
deemed legal in the sight of Shariah.
If the following conditions of
Nikaah are met, then and only then will it be considered legal and valid:
- Proposal and acceptance
- Determination of the Mehr
- Two witnesses to the above agreement.
If the above three conditions
are met, then the Nikaah will have been deemed according to Shariah and will be
absolutely legal and valid. It does
not matter if the Judge, or the
registrar documenting the marriage is a believer or a non-believer, the Nikaah will be considered valid if the
above three conditions of Shariah are met.
Your question: Does the witnesses have to be Muslims ?
The scholars in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that the
witnesses to the Nikaah of a muslim couple must be believers.
But if two people who are disbelievers marry in any format
(Hindu, Christian, Court Registration,
etc.), and subsequently Allah blesses
them to revert to Al-Islam, they will
not have to perform their marriage again.
Their marriage will be deemed as legal and valid in the sight of
Shariah.
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
Wister