Was my marriage valid given that there was no wali and my husband had no witnesses of his own?

Question

I am a revert for nearly a year and I was married to a brother quite quickly after I converted to Islam. He asked me to marry him and three days later we attended a mosque and got married. I had no wali as none of my family members are Muslim.

He had no witnesses of his own. So, the imam got two brothers from inside the mosque to be our witnesses. The marriage ceremony took place after the imam was paid for the wedding ceremony.

The mahr was set and the certificate was filled and signed and we were married. We have since divorced but I have been told that my marriage may not have been valid and I am terrified that I have been engaging in Zina.

May Allah forgive me as I am gaining knowledge as much as I can but I did not know the details of marriage then. We also never lived together because of family arguments and only saw each other maybe twice a week.

I loved my husband very much and still do but it is the third divorce and I know now that there is no going back. So, was my marriage valid?

Answer 1

I need more information to answer this question. However, the question seems to indicate that the questioner wants to know whether she committed zina or not. I will address that point. The question states,

May Allah forgive me as I am gaining knowledge as much as I can but I did not know the details of marriage then. We also never lived together because of family arguments and only saw each other maybe twice a week.

If she was unaware of the details of marriage, then she is free from blame. She didn't sin even if the marriage was invalid. That is because she did it due to ignorance.

Whoever commits a sin while not knowing that it is a sin, he will not be accountable for it, as there are many evidences which prove that a person who does a sin unknowingly is forgiven.

For instance Allaah Says (which means): {And Allaah will never lead a people astray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them as to what they should avoid. …}[Quran 9: 115]. Moreover, the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) did not order the person who did not know how to pray to make up his prayer. [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

[Excerpt from Islamweb Fatawa, 90745]

Answer 2

Sister,

All conditions of the marriage seem to be fulfilled except of your wali (i am not 100% sure about it from your question). but in case as you did not had your wali, any wali could have been appointed from the imam (which i think did not happened) so only in that case marriage was not valid (i would recommend to talk to a scholar, and dont go after my opinion)

But even if you think it was not valied, then you have no sin over you, you did not commit Zina, as you were not aware of it. When someone is not aware of an aciton being haram, and do it, they have no sin over them.

Actions matter on your intentions, when you did not intended to do zina , then you have no sin over you.

Answer 3

Dont worry about what has already happened. You two signed a contract in the presence of witnesses and it was a legally binding contract. I am assuming you lived like a couple in front of other poeple in the society as well.

If, however, you think you did something wrong, just ask for forgiveness and trust the Allah is Rehman, Rahim and Most Forgiving.

Answer 4

Wa'alaikissalaam warahmatollaahi wabarakaatuh. May Allah bless you, forgive you, and give you the light (knowledge), and so all of us.

Here is a short answer based on my knowledge. I am not a student of shariah law, but I often listen to scientific (shariah) lectures. Actually any question should be asked to those who master the 'ilm (knowledge), i.e. ulema (scholar) or ustadz (teacher), so just take this QA site as a starting point instead of a fatwa.

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
And We sent not before you except men to whom We revealed [Our message]. So ask the people of the message if you do not know. (An-Nahl: 43)

In plain English: "And We sent you men to whom We revealed [Our message, e.g. Qur'an]. So ask the people who master the knowledge if you don't know."

Not only about shariah or deen, even dunya (world before afterlife) matter should be asked to those who know, e.g. health matter is asked to doctors.

Woman with no wali

In case that the woman don't have any wali, such as a (muslim) father, a (muslim) brother, and so on that complies the shariah [I mean there are chain of wali so if there is no the first then replaced by the second, if there is no the second then replaced by the third, and so on], so the wali is the (muslim) leader, such as the king or the president [originally it was the Chaliph, since today there is no Chaliph and muslims are divided to many countries, ulema said the king or the president is the leader]. Usually in muslim countries, such as Indonesia, a president delegates this task to his official in certain regions. In Indonesia there is Kantor Urusan Agama (religious affair office) and the official there will act as the wali for those women with no wali at all. So the marriage is legitimate/valid and it will not be a zina.

About the witnesses

There is no requirement that the witnesses should be from the family of the man.

Conclusion of law

I cannot conclude since I don't know if an imam is legitimate to act as a wali and I don't know the detail of your problem/life/environment.

Now what?

Since you've divorced, even it was third divorce, and there is no going back, just take it as a lesson. You cannot do much about it because there is no relationship between you and him anymore. Even if the nikah was not valid, and so the divorce (was not valid too), you have no relationship anymore. If you have any child with him, it is better to discuss about the status of the child with ulema/ustadz, since if the nikah was not valid then the child is not considered as the man's child.

Because you have no relationship anymore, it is better you don't ever meet him again so you can heal your heart and meet a better man. It is heart, it "alternates back and forth". Our heart is Allah's so don't forget to ask Allah to fix it.

So you ask Allah for forgiveness, because He is Rahman and Raheem, and become a better muslimah. With this, maybe Allah wants to give you a lesson and encourage you to learn more, so you become a better person.

... إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
... Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves. (Al-Baqarah: 222)

The peace of soul is from Allah so ask Allah to give it. Trust me, Allah will never dump His servant who wants to be better. I suggest you to choose a better environment, full of good muslims.