{"fatawa":{"id":9150,"title":"Is the marriage contract valid if she is not present?","slug":"is-the-marriage-contract-valid-if-she-is-not-present","order":"","question":"<p>I had a proposal come few yrs ago.mans family disapproved of me due to  different caste.he wanted tomarry me as did i.i gave him written  permission for a nikah.we had a nikah in proxy.i was not present, he was  there, two witnesses, a local imam etc.my parents do approve of this  marriage but are not aware we actually had nikah.is this nikah jayaz.is  it a nikah.we have not committed any haram intimate acts, all we do is  talk over phone but had nikah as conversation this is only allowed after  nikah.my issue is would a nikah in proxy be valid if i wasn't actually  aware of exact day it took place.he did not inform me on the day that  this was hapenning as we could not make contact.although i have no  objections to this nikah just need to know if islamically it is valid.<\/p>","answer":"<div class=\"list-group-item-text ftwa-single-answer font-nrmal\"><span class=\"line_height\"> Praise be to Allaah.\r\n<p>Firstly:&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>It is not      essential for you to be present at the marriage contract; what matters is      that it be proven that you give your consent, and written permission is      sufficient for that.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Secondly:&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>What matters      is that your wali (guardian) or his wakeel (representative) should be      present, because a marriage contract without the wali of the woman is not      valid, because the Prophet  (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him)      said: &ldquo;There is no marriage without a wali.&rdquo; Narrated by Abu Dawood (2085),      al-Tirmidhi (1101) and Ibn Maajah (1881) from the hadeeth of Abu Moosa      al-Ash&rsquo;ari; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in <em>Saheeh<\/em> <em>al-Tirmidhi<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>And the      Prophet  (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him)&nbsp; said: &ldquo;Any woman      who gets married without the permission of her wali, her marriage is      invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid.&rdquo; Narrated by      Ahmad (24417), Abu Dawood (2083) and al-Tirmidhi (1102); classed as saheeh      by al-Albaani in <em>Saheeh al-Jaami&rsquo;<\/em>, no. 2709.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>From your      saying &ldquo;my parents do approve of this marriage but are not aware we actually      had nikah&rdquo; it may be understood that your wali was not present at the nikaah      and that his representative was not present either. If that is the case then      the marriage contract is not valid, and you have to repeat the marriage      contract in the presence of the wali and two witnesses.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>This applies      if you have a Muslim wali, such as a father, brother or other guardian. If      there is no Muslim wali then your wali is the Muslim qaadi (judge). If there      is no qaadi, then it is the director of the Islamic centre or the imam of      the mosque.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>You do not      mention anything about your parents&rsquo; religion.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Based on      that, if none of your guardians are Muslim, then the way in which the      marriage contract was done is valid. But if one of your guardians is Muslim,      then the marriage contract must be repeated in his presence, or he must      appoint someone to do the marriage contract on his behalf.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>And Allaah      knows best.<\/p>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"padding: 3px; padding-right: 6px; text-align: right;\">Islam Q&amp;A<\/div>","status":1,"created_at":"2015-02-02T21:51:57.000000Z","updated_at":"2015-02-02T21:51:57.000000Z","language_id":1,"fatawacate_id":36,"parent_id":9149,"author_id":"","books":[],"articles":[],"videos":[],"audios":[],"author_name":"","category_name":"\u0639\u0642\u062f \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0643\u0627\u062d","category_slug":"","get_date":"2015-02-02"},"translations":[],"fatawa_books":[],"fatawa_articles":[],"fatawa_videos":[],"fatawa_audios":[],"url":"http:\/\/islamland.com\/eng\/api\/fatawas\/9150"}