Fatwa ID: 05629

Answered by: Maulana Syed Johir Miah

Question:

In my family, when two individuals are getting married, the day before the wedding, two relatives from the groom’s side will go over to the girl’s side and witness the “raza” which is when a family member asks the girl if she is happy to get married etc.

Is this permissible or is this something that should be avoided? Is there any basis for this in the sunnah?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The marriage contract is concluded with an offer and acceptance, by using two statements that express the past tense, or one of the two statements expresses the past tense and the other expresses the future tense, for example, one says, “Marry her to me,” and the other says, “I have married her to you.”[1]

The marriage of Muslims is not concluded except in the presence of two male witnesses who are free, major, sane Muslims, or one man and two women.[2]

In the aforementioned case, it would be permissible if two relatives from the groom’s side go over to the girl’s side and witness the “raza” when a family member asks the girl if she is happy to get married etc. However, one should bear in mind that this should not be considered as being a necessary part of the nikah and the two parties should not insist on it as well. 

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Syed Johir Miah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1]النكاح ينعقد بالإيجاب والقبول بلفظين يعبر بهما عن الماضي أو يعبر بأحدهما عن الماضي وبالآخر عن المستقبل مثل أن يقول: زوجتي فيقول زوجتك

Mukhtasarul Quduri, Quduri, 145, Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, 1418 H.

[2]ولا يعقد نكاح المسلمين إلا بحضور شاهدين حرين بالغين عاقلين مسلمين أو رجل وامرأتين عدولا كانوا غيرا عدول أو محدودين في قذف

Ibid