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What is the ruling on conducting a marriage contract (nikah) and delaying the marriage for five years with the consent of both spouses, and is it necessary to repeat the contract later in front of the family?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a woman embraces Islam and her family does not, they have no guardianship over her. Guardianship transfers to the closest Muslim male relative (asabah). If there is no Muslim relative, the head of the Islamic center or the Imam of the mosque will be her guardian for marriage. If a Muslim girl fears negative consequences from informing her non-Muslim family about her marriage, she may complete the marriage without their knowledge, postponing the consummation and ceremonies until she is able to persuade them. If that is not possible, the wife may conceal the reality of the marriage from her family by claiming that he is her "friend," so as to avoid estrangement or a negative reaction from her family towards Islam.

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

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