The pillar and conditions of a valid marriage (nikah)
Marriage (nikah) has one pillar, offer and acceptance, and six conditions that must all be met for it to be valid.
A nikah needs one thing to exist at all: a proposal from one side and an acceptance from the other, said in front of witnesses. This is called offer (ijab) and acceptance (qubul).
On top of that, several conditions all have to be met, or the nikah is not valid.
What every nikah needs
- The woman must not be someone the man is forbidden to marry, like a close relative.
- The people agreeing to the marriage (or their guardians, if they are children or cannot decide for themselves) must be able to understand what marriage means.
- If someone is a child, or cannot think clearly, their guardian must give permission.
- If a woman wants to marry someone her family would not normally consider a good match, her guardians must agree to it.
- Two witnesses must be there to hear the offer and acceptance.
- The marriage cannot be for a set amount of time, like "married for one year." A marriage is meant to last.
The only pillar (rukn) of nikah is offer and acceptance (ijab and qubul): the combined act of proposing the marriage and the other side agreeing to it. Without this, there is no contract at all.
Beyond the pillar, six conditions must all be satisfied for the contract to be valid:
| Type | What it requires | If it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Pillar | Offer and acceptance (ijab and qubul) | There is no contract of nikah at all |
| Condition 1 | The woman must not be a mahram (a woman prohibited to the man) | The nikah is not valid |
| Condition 2 | The contracting parties, or their guardians, are sane, adult and free | Sanity is needed for the contract to form; being adult and free is needed for it to take effect |
| Condition 3 | A madman, minor or slave has the permission of a guardian | The nikah is suspended on the guardian's approval |
| Condition 4 | A woman marrying outside her family's usual match has her guardians' agreement | Her guardians may object and have the marriage annulled by a judge |
| Condition 5 | Two witnesses are present | The nikah is not valid |
| Condition 6 | The nikah is not restricted to a fixed period | The nikah is not valid, and is called mut'ah or mouqqat |
Each condition is explained fully in its own section.
Binding a nikah to a fixed period (for example, saying "I have married you for one month" or "until so-and-so dies") makes the contract invalid, whether or not a dowry and witnesses were mentioned. This is called mut'ah when no witnesses are present and the word 'mut'ah' is used, or mouqqat when witnesses are present. Both forms are invalid, and mut'ah is categorically forbidden.
12The sole rukn of nikah is ījāb wa qubūl: offer and acceptance together constitute the contract. Everything else discussed under nikah is a sharṭ (condition) rather than a rukn: its absence prevents the contract taking a valid or effective form, but it is not itself the substance of the contract.
| Type | What it requires | If it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Rukn (pillar) | Ījāb and qubūl | No contract of nikah exists |
| Sharṭ 1 | The woman is not a maḥram | The nikah is invalid (bāṭil) |
| Sharṭ 2 | The ʿāqidān, or their walis, possess ʿaql; and are bāligh and free | ʿAql is a condition of the contract's formation (inʿiqād); bulūgh and freedom are conditions of its enforceability (nafādh) |
| Sharṭ 3 | A majnūn, minor or slave has a walī's consent | The nikah is mawqūf: suspended on the walī's approval |
| Sharṭ 4 | A woman marrying outside kafāʾah has her walīs' agreement | Her walīs retain the right of objection (iʿtirāḍ) and may have the marriage annulled through the qāḍī |
| Sharṭ 5 | Two shuhūd (witnesses) are present at the majlis | The nikah is invalid |
| Sharṭ 6 | The contract is not muʾaqqat (bound to a term) | The nikah is invalid: mutʿah or mouqqat |
Each sharṭ is explained fully, with its own qualifications, in its own section.
A nikah tied to a fixed term, with a stated mahr and the word 'mutʿah' used but no witnesses present, is a mutʿah marriage; where 'tazwīj' is used with witnesses present but the contract is still bound to a term, it is called mouqqat. Both are invalid regardless of the length of the term, and mutʿah is categorically forbidden (ḥarām qatʿī) in the school followed by this manual.
12This is the English translation of Nisab Ahle Khidmaat Sharia, exactly as the book has it, for the passages this page was written from. About 363 words. Switch back to Guide for the rewritten version.
Rulings of Nikah
3. Pillars of Nikah:
The only pillar of Nikah is proposal (Ijab) and acceptance (Qubul). [The combined act of proposal and acceptance is what constitutes Nikah.]
Conditions of Nikah:
The conditions of Nikah are as follows:
- The woman must not be among the prohibited relations (mahram).
- The contracting parties (or their guardians) must be sane [Sanity is a condition for the validity of Nikah, and being an adult and free is a condition for its enforcement], adult, and free [A free person is one who is not a slave].
- Permission of guardians is necessary for a madman, minor, and slave.
- For a woman, if she intends to marry someone outside her compatibility (kafa’ah), her guardians must agree to it [For instance, if the guardians are not pleased at the time of the Nikah, the Nikah will not take place] (whether the woman is an adult or a minor).
- The presence of two witnesses.
- The Nikah must not be restricted to a specific period.
Note:
Each of the aforementioned conditions is explained as follows:
Order of Guardianship in Marriage Rulings Regarding the Insane and Minors
Explanation of the Sixth Condition (Not Binding the Marriage with a Fixed Term):
- If the marriage is bound by a fixed term, whether shorter or longer, and the dowry is also specified, and the word "Mut'ah" is used, but there are no witnesses, it is called Mut'ah. If the dowry is not specified but the word "Tazweej" (marriage) is used and witnesses are present, it is called Mouqqat.
- Both Mut'ah and Mouqqat marriages are invalid, for example:
- If a person says to a woman, "I have married you for one month, ten years, or until so-and-so person is alive for a dowry of one hundred rupees." or
- If a person says to a woman in the presence of witnesses, "I have married you for one month, ten years, or until so-and-so person is alive," then both of these situations are invalid.
- Mut'ah marriage is categorically forbidden.
Note: The explanation of the conditions of marriage is complete. Before this, the components of marriage have been explained. After the components and conditions of marriage, now (including the rulings of marriage), the mention of dowry follows, which is an essential element of marriage.
Terms on this page
Related
- Spouses' rights, and marriages that do not hold What a marriage contract owes each spouse, and the situations elsewhere in this section where a marriage (nikah) is invalid or left pending.
- The rules of offer and acceptance The wording, timing and setting that a proposal and its acceptance must satisfy for a marriage (nikah) to be valid.
- The witnesses to a marriage (nikah) A marriage (nikah) needs two qualifying witnesses who hear the whole offer and acceptance together, or it is not valid.
- Guardianship in marriage Who counts as a guardian (wali), in what order they stand, and what a guardian can and cannot decide for someone else.