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Is the marriage religiously valid if it was conducted by the Imam reciting Al-Fatiha with Muslim witnesses, without the presence of the Christian wife's guardian, but he was consenting and nearby?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It appears that the aforementioned marriage contract is invalid for several reasons:

1. A Muslim undertook the marriage contract of a disbeliever, and a Muslim cannot be the guardian of a disbeliever. 2. The woman's guardian did not utter words indicating an offer (ijab), nor did he appoint someone to act on his behalf in that regard. 3. The contract was limited to merely reciting Al-Fatiha without a formula indicating the contract.

Therefore, the contract must be renewed with the presence of the woman's guardian or his representative, and her guardian or a man from her own religion should directly undertake the contract with a formula indicating marriage. The children resulting from this marriage are considered legitimate to the husband if he believed in the validity of the marriage.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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