Fatwa ID: 02843

Answered by:  Maulana Imran Mughal​

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

I would like to know if a Nikah is valid if the Imam speaks Turkish during the Nikah ceremony and the couple do not understand what he is saying, but one of the witnesses translates it to the couple.

However, it was the Imam who asked the couple if the Nikah is accepted. The couple only understood the word qabool from the Imam. Will the Nikah be valid or is it a requirement that the couple understands everything that the Imam says?

Kindly note that both witnesses were strangers to the couple. Kindly answer according to the Hanafi Fiqh.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

It is not a requirement that the spouses understand everything that the Imam says, such that even if the Imam were to ask them to repeat the words in Arabic and they did not understand the exact meaning of those words the Nikah will still be valid.[1]

And Allah SWT knows best.

Answered by Maulana Imran Mughal

Checked and approved Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham