A sister who was divorced is remarrying. Her father is present but since she was married once already she does not need a Wali/Wakeel. Can her father and the Imam be the 2 witnesses if there is no one else present to be witnesses to the marriage?
The Nikkah was done with the Imam and her father as the 2 witnesses. Is the Nikkah valid?
2 Answers
In the name of Allah
According to my researches, the attendance of the witnesses is not counted as a Wajib practice for the marriage. (At least it could be based on the view of Shia Maraja')
According to the Fatwa of Ayatollah Khamenei (and perhaps all of Shia maraja') it is not Wajib or mandatory for them to have 2 witnesses for the Aqd (marriage), but the attendance of the witnesses is obligatory for the divorce. consequently in accordance with the mentioned Fatwa, it is considered as a valid marriage.
Reference(s):
There are 2 rules to a valid marriage:
Acceptance of the Wali or the Women (the Women has legal precedence over the Wali when she is not a Virgin).
2 Witnesses different from the Wali. The Imam can be a witness but not the Wali.
This is in accordance with what the Prophet (PBUH) said: "No marriage except with a Wali and two trusted witnesses" - لا نكاح إلا بولي وشاهدي عدل
.
Personally, I would recommend that these two get married again in front of witnesses to avoid any confusion -does not have to be public/recorded, but should erase any doubts they have about their marriage.