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Is the marriage considered valid if the contract was concluded by a Sharia-compliant documenter in the presence of the spouses, the guardian, and the two witnesses, and the offer and acceptance took place, followed by the recitation of Al-Fatiha and supplication, provided that the traditional formula would be repeated after two months, knowing that a previous engagement included the guardian's approval?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the marriage was contracted with the formula "A-zawwajtu? (Have I given you in marriage?)" and "Qabiltu (I accept)" in the presence of two witnesses, then it is a valid marriage fulfilling its pillars. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah holds that marriage is contracted by whatever people consider a marriage, in any language, word, or action.

If the husband utters the word "al-fasḵ (annulment/dissolution)" after the marriage contract, it is considered an indirect pronouncement of divorce (kinayah), and divorce occurs if the husband intended it. However, if the word used was "al-ṭalāq (divorce)," then divorce occurs even if he did not intend its occurrence. If the divorce occurs before consummation or valid seclusion (al-khulwah al-ṣaḥīḥah), the wife becomes irrevocably separated from her husband, and a new contract is required for them to return to each other. If it occurs after consummation or seclusion, the husband retains the right of return (rajʿah) as long as the waiting period (ʿiddah) has not ended.

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

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