QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: I was chatting to a boy on Snapchat and we were both talking about Nikāh [marriage]. So, I said have you married me and he said yes I accept, I accept I accept. So, has my Nikāh happened in this way, even though we were joking?
Questioner: Sister from UK
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
No, your marriage has not occurred because it is essential for marriage that the proposal [offer] and acceptance be in the presence of two witnesses, and those contracting the marriage (bridge and groom) be present & gathered in one sitting. In the aforementioned case, neither were there witnesses present, nor was the marriage conducted in one mutual sitting, whereas both of these matters are a must for Nikāh – just as it is stated in Radd al-Muhtār,
“وَمِنْ شَرَائِطِ الْإِيجَابِ وَالْقَبُولِ: اتِّحَادُ الْمَجْلِسِ لَوْ حَاضِرَيْنِ (قَوْلُهُ: اتِّحَادُ الْمَجْلِسِ) قَالَ فِي الْبَحْرِ: فَلَوْ اخْتَلَفَ الْمَجْلِسُ لَمْ يَنْعَقِدْ”
‘Amongst the conditions of proposing [offering] and accepting is there being a mutual sitting provided that those contracting the marriage are present. And it is stated in al-Bahr that if the sitting is not mutual – i.e. it differs – then the marriage will not be contracted.’
[Durr Mukhtār & Radd al-Muhtār, vol. 3, p. 14]
And it is stated in this very book,
“(وَ) شُرِطَ (حُضُورُ) شَاهِدَيْنِ”
‘And it is also a condition that the witnesses be present in the sitting as well.’
[Durr Mukhtār & Radd al-Muhtār, vol. 3, p. 21]
And it is stated in Bahār-e-Sharī’at, ‘There being witnesses i.e. the offer [proposal] and acceptance being in the presence and sitting of two males or one male and two females; the witnesses should be free [i.e. not slaves], sane minded, pubescent and they all must have heard the wording of the Nikāh [marriage] together from start to finish.’
[Bahār-e-Sharī’at, vol. 2, part 7, p. 11]
One should bear in mind that if the conditions of Nikāh [marriage] are fulfilled, then the marriage will be valid, even if the proposal and acceptance was done so jokingly.
Please note
The impermissibility & sin of talking in seclusion – to such a level and about said topic as well – is another matter & issue in itself, however that is not what is being discussed here.
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Haider Ali Madani
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0853] Me and this guy did our Nikah on Snapchat, is the marriage valid?
