A Woman Performing a Wedding (Nikah) Ceremony
Question:
At a recent wedding, a woman performed the nikah (i.e. doing the khutbah and presiding over the ceremony). Are there any specific rules to a person officiating a nikah, or is it simply a contract which anyone can perform?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
There is nothing legally wrong with a Muslim woman performing a wedding (nikah) ceremony. Women have full legal agency in the Shariah, and have the right to initiate their own marriages, to act as agents (wakeel) for others to marry, and to oversee the marriage of others.
A nikah does not actually legally require a religious figure (an imam or shaykh or mawlana) to conduct it. Rather, its obligatory elements--as detailed more thoroughly in related answers--are: a valid offer from one side and a valid corresponding acceptance from the other; and witnesses who hear this offer and acceptance while knowing that what is happening is a marriage.
However, it is recommended to have someone of learning, wisdom, and piety involved in this process, in order to ensure that the marriage is legally sound, pleasing to Allah (by not falling into errors of social or religious judgement), and blessed.
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner
online.
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