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:

Assalaamu Aleykum Janab Burhan bhai sahab,

***NEED EXTREMELY URGENT RESPONSE and Please keep it confidential***

Masha`Allah, you are doing a great job by guiding weak & misguided people like me, May Allah reward you generously from the best of His rewards....Allahumma Ameen.

Since last 4 years I`m a regular visitor of your simple, easy & wonderful forum, in fact I have even earned some rewards by inviting many to this wonderful website, I have learnt a lot from you and my faith has improved tremendously, thanks for all your efforts and good things you have been doing for thousands of people like us and FYI, since long I wanted to asked some questions, but I found almost all the general answers on this forum.

But today I`m in extremely difficult situation and need your promptest guidance in the light of Quran & Sunnah, the situation is, my niece ran away with her boy friend and secretly got married with him, its been 3 months now, we were not aware of their whereabouts until last week and ASAP her parents came to know, they rush to see them and I have been told that they are married, have no options, but to accept them, so as per one of your answer, such marriages are unlawful in Sight of Allah Subhanah & Shariah Law and have conveyed that message to them, but its seems due lack Islamic knowledge they are accepting them as if nothing went wrong and defending them by showing their WORLDLY marriage certificate & other legal documents, so please guide me in the light of Quran & Sunnah to overcome with this difficult situation and let me know the best solution to this problem by considering all factors, should you need further info, please let me know.

Your urgent reply is highly appreciated.

Thanks again Burhan bhai.

Jazak Allah Kheir

(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 secret legal or illegal

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

For a ‘marriage’ or ‘nikaah’ to be lawful and acceptable in the Sight of Shariah Law and of Allah Subhanah, the following four absolutely obligatory conditions of an Islamic ‘nikaah’ have to fulfilled:

1. Proposal by one party and acceptance by the other.
2. The determination of ‘mehr’ for the bride.
3. The availability of at least two witnesses to the marriage contract.
4. The consent of the parents/guardians of the bride to the marriage contract.

As much as it would be against piety, righteousness, and behavior becoming of a muslim to marry secretly without informing or the participation of their near and loved ones, if one has fulfilled all the obligatory conditions of an Islamic marriage, their marriage itself will be considered lawful in the Sight of Shariah Law.

If even one of the above four obligatory conditions of ‘nikaah’ are violated, such a marriage will be considered null and void in the Sight of Shariah Law and in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan