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I want to marry a girl secretly who has just reverted to Islam.

Q:

I am interested to marry a girl who has just reverted back to Islam, My problem is that I want this nikkah to be a secret.
I will be telling my family about it later on.
Will the nikkah be valid as I will not be involving anyone from my blood relatives to be witnesses and same in her case, as her all relatives are kaafir. There will absolutely be no witness from her side. How can I execute this.
I am really nervous about this, please guide me.

A:

Salamun Alaykum

Thank you for your query.

In Islam, consent of a virgin girl’s father or paternal grandfather is compulsory for the marriage to take place.

According to Ayatullah al-Udhma Sayyid Ali Sistany’s office, if the girl has converted and is mature (Rashida)[1],  as her parents are non-Muslims then she doesn’t need the permission of her father to marry. But if her parents, especially father is Muslim, then you must gain her consent in this case and then marry her otherwise the marriage wouldn’t be valid.

In Sunnis, it is mandatory to have two adult male witnesses at the time of Nikah whereas there is no need of witnesses at the time of divorce(Talaq) but the Shias, do not have such condition to have two witnesses present at the time of Nikah ceremony but we need to have the witnesses at the time of divorce(Talaq).
This shows that Islam doesn’t encourage divorce but where divorce is necessary then two witnesses are required according to Shias. It also indicates that Nikah is easier in Shias and divorce is harder.

[1] A mature girl is a girl who recognizes the benefits and interests of her life well and is not only influenced by her sexual instinct and emotion in marriage. This varies from person to person and it is not possible to determine a specific age for them.

 

Question: If a woman is over thirty years of age, and still virgin, is it necessary for her to seek the permission of her guardian for marriage?

Answer: If she is not independent, it is obligatory on her to seek his consent. Rather, even if she is independent, she must seek his consent, as a matter of compulsory precaution.

https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01250/

 

May Allah(swt) grant you success

Wassalam,

Syed Haider