A Brief of Islamic Law

Marriage

The relation between man and woman becomes lawful by contracting marriage. There are two kinds of marriage:

(i) Permanent marriage (ii) Fixed-time (temporary) marriage In a permanent marriage, the period of matrimony is not fixed, and it is forever. The woman with whom such a marriage is concluded is called Da'imah (i.e. a permanent wife).

In a fixed time marriage, the period of matrimony is fixed, for example, matrimonial relation is contracted with a woman for an hour, or a day, or a month, or a year, or more. However, the period fixed for the marriage, should not exceed the span of normal lives of the spouses, otherwise the marriage contract will be void. The woman with whom such a marriage is concluded is called -Mut`ah- or Munqati`ah.

Marriage

  1. Whether marriage is permenent or temporary, the formal formula must be pronouncesd; mere tacit approval and consent, or written agreement, is not sufficient. And the formule (Sighah) of the marriage contract is pronounced either by the man and the woman themselves, or by a person who is appointed by them as their representatives to recite it on their behalf.

  2. The representative should not necessarily be a male. A woman can also become a representative to pronounce the marriage formula.

  3. As long as the woman and the man are not certain that thier representative has pronounced the formula, they cannot look at each other as mah ran (like husband and wife) and a more probable suspicion that the representative might have pronounced the formule is not sufficient. And if the representative says that he has pronounced the formula, but his assertion does not satisfy the parties concerned, as an obligatory precaution, it will not be deemed sufficient.

  4. One person can act as the representative of both sides for reciting the formula of permanent or temporary marriage. It is also permissible that a man may himself become the representative of a woman and contract permanent or temporary marriage with her.

The Method of Pronouncing the Marriage Formula

  1. If a woman and a man themselves want to recite the formula of permanent marriage, after determining ?idaq (marriage settlement or Mahr), the woman shuold first say: Zawwajtuka nafsi `alas-?idaq-il-ma`lum (i.e. I have made myself your wife on the agreed Mahr), and then the man should immediately respond thus: Qabilt-ut-tazwij (i.e. I accept the marriage). In this way, the marriage contract will be in order. And if a woman and a man appoint other persons to act as their representatives for pronouncing the formula of marriage, and if, for example, the name of the man is Ahmad and that of the woman is Fatimah, the representative of the woman should first say: -Zawwajtu muwakkilaka Ahmad muwakkilati Fatimah `alas-?idaq-il-ma`lum” - (i.e. I have given to your client Ahmad in marriage my client Fatimah on the agreed Mahr) and thereafter the representative of the man should immediately respond thus: ~Qabilt-ut-tazwija li-muwakkili Ahmad alas-Sidaq-il-malum” (that is, I accepted this matrimonial alliance for my cliently Ahmad on the agreed Mahr). Now the marriage contract is in order. And, on the basis of recommended precaution, it is necessary that the words uttered by the man should conform with those uttered by the woman; for example, if the woman says, “Zawwajtuka… ( i.e. I have made myself your wife…) the man should also say, “Qabilt-ut-tazwija… ( i.e. Iaccept the matrimonial alliance…) and not “Qabilt-un-nikaha…

  2. It is permissible for a man and a woman to recite the formula of the temporary marriage, after having agreed on the period of maniage and the amount of Mahr. Hence, if the woman says: “Zawwajtuka nafsi fil-muddat-il-ma`lumati `al-al-mahr-il-ma`lum”. (i.e. I have made myself your wife for an agreed period and agreed Mahr), and then the man immediately responds thus: ~Qabiltu” (i.e. I have accepted), the marriage will be in order. And the marriage will also be in order if they appoint other persons to act as their representatives. First, the representative of the woman should say to the representative of the man thus: “Zawwajtu muwakkilati muwakkilaka fil-muddat-il-ma`lumati `al-al-mahr-il-ma`lum” (i.e. I have given my client to your client in marriage for the agreed period and the agreed Mahr), and then the representative of the man should immediately respond thus: “Qabilt-ut-tazwija il-muwakkili hakadha” (i.e. I accepted this matrimonial alliance for my client this way).

Conditions for Marriage Contract

  1. There are certain conditions for reciting the marriage formula. They are as follows:

(i) On the basis of precaution, the formula marriage contract (sighah should be pronouced in correct Arabic. And if the man and the woman cannot pronounce the formula in correct Arabic, they can pronounce, it in any other language, and it is not necessary to appoint any representatives. But the words used in translation must convey strictly the meaning of “Zawwajtu” and “Qabiltu”.

(ii) The man and the woman or their representatives, who recite the Sighah, should have the intention of Insha' (i.e. reciting it in a creative sense, making it effective immediately). In other words, if the man and the woman themselves pronounce the formule, the intention of the woman by saying, “Zawwajtuka nafsi”, should be that she effectively makes herself the wife of the man; and by saying, “Qabilt-ut-tazwija”, the man effectively accepts her as his wife. And if the representatives of the man and the woman pronounce the Sighah, their intention by saying, “Zawwajtu”, and “Qabiltu”, should be that the man and the woman who have appointed them as their representatives, have effectively become husband and wife.

(iii) The person who pronounces the Sighah (whether he pronounces it for himself or has been engaged by some other person as his representative) should be sane, and he should be Bàligh also, if he pronounces it for himself. And as a precaution the formula pronounced by a minor who is discerning for another person is not sufficient, and if he pronounced, they should be devorced or the formule should be uttered again.

(iv) If the Sighah is pronounced by the representatives or the guardians of the man and the woman, they should identify the man and the woman by uttering their names or making intelligible signs towards them. Hence, if a person has more than one daughters, and he says to a man, “Zawwajtuka ihda banati” (i.e. I have given away one of my daughters to you as your wife), and the man says, “Qabiltu” (i.e. I have accepted), the marriage contract is void, because the daughter has not been identified.

(v) The woman and the man should be willing to enter into a matrimonial alliance. If, however, they ostensibly display hesitation while giving their consent, but it is known that in their heart, they are agreeable to the marriage, the marriage is in order.

  1. If, while reciting the Sighah, even one word is pronounced incorrectly, as a result of which its meaning is changed, the marriage contract would be void.