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Is it permissible to marry عرفياً ( عرفي - informally/customarily) a woman who does not possess identification documents and is in violation of residency laws, knowing that the marriage will be for an indefinite period due to the residency circumstances and the woman's violation of the law?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a woman marries herself in a customary marriage (zawaj urfi) without a guardian (wali), then it is invalid. However, if it fulfills the conditions and pillars of a valid Islamic marriage, such as the presence of a guardian, witnesses, offer (ijab), and acceptance (qabul), but is not officially registered with a judge, it is Islamically valid. If the marriage is for a temporary duration specified in the contract, it is invalid. But if it is not time-bound, though the husband intends to divorce after a period, the majority of scholars consider the contract valid. It is necessary to document the contract to avoid corruption and the loss of rights. The best is a legally documented Islamic marriage, and if that is not possible, then one should seek other options.

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

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