Is what happened between the prospective groom and his fiancée, after the bride's father said, "Consider her your wife," and in the presence of both of them and their families, considered a valid marriage, a doubtful marriage, or fornication? And does the prophetic hadith apply to it: "There are three matters, serious when taken seriously and serious when taken in jest: marriage, divorce, and رجعة (returning to the marital union after a revocable divorce)"?

Marriage is contracted by offer and acceptance in the presence of two Muslim witnesses. Offer and acceptance may be uttered during an engagement without the intention of a contract. In such a case, reference is made to custom. If it is customary for this to be merely a promise, then no marriage contract is formed. What is customary in the questioner's country is that this phrase ("consider her your wife") does not signify a marriage contract but rather an affirmation of acceptance, and the contract (marriage solemnization) takes place later. A man's cohabitation with a woman before the contract or before the customary consummation after the contract is a grave evil. Even if the husband believes the contract to be valid, it is a شبهة (dubious) marriage, and paternity is established for any child born from it, because "the child belongs to the bed."