Can court marriage be considered as nikah?

Question:

Assalamu alaykum,

I follow Hanafi fiqh and live in the US. My fiancee and I are planning on getting court marriage done so she can apply for her legal status.

My question is can court marriage be considered as nikkah or Islamically legal if following requirements are met:

– Both are Muslims
– A formal proposal of marriage (ijab) and acceptance of the proposal (qabul)
– Presence of our parents (wali) / witnesses

But what if the mahr is not being mentioned during the procedure in court or even decided yet. Or do we need to decide mahr before we get court marriage done?

Jazak Allah Khayr for your help.

Answer:

Wa alakym salam,

That would be tolerable, but it is Sunnah that the nikah be announced and performed in the Masjid. As for Mahr it is the wife’s right and is to be stipulated prior to the marriage.

Imam Senad Agic
American Islamic Center – Chicago
Majlis #1 Head Imam (IABNA)
www.aicchicago.com
www.imamsenadagic.com
www.iabna.org

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