The imam of a mosque proposed marriage to a woman, on the basis that they would be engaged for five years, and he did the marriage contract with her before a number of people, but before he announced his marriage to her and before the marriage was officially registered, he had intercourse with her without her family’s knowledge, and when he decided to announce the marriage with the daff (i.e., hold a wedding party) and register the marriage officially, she was pregnant and there were only three months left until the birth.
My questions are:
1- What is the ruling on his marriage and what is the ruling on the child who is born as a result?
2- Is the husband regarded as having done something haraam by doing this, or not?
3- What is the ruling on praying behind this imam?.<\/p>","answer":"
Firstly: <\/p>\r\n
If the marriage contract to which you refer met the conditions of proposal and acceptance, and the presence of the woman’s wali (guardian) and two witnesses, and was done with the woman’s consent, then this is a valid marriage contract with all that that entails. The woman became his wife thereby and it is permissible for her husband to be intimate with her, including intercourse. But if he refrained from intercourse that would have been better, in accordance with custom and so as to avoid the negative consequences that result from that, such as suspicion and so on, especially since the marriage was not registered officially. <\/p>\r\n