If I Can’t Find Witnesses to Marry What Can I Do? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan

Question: Assalam alaykum,

If I can’t find witnesses to marry a girl what can I do?

Answer: Wa alaykum al-Salam

Shukran for your question.

All four schools of jurisprudence considers the presence of witnesses as a requirement for the validity of a marriage. The Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools require witnesses to be present at the time of contract, while the Maliki school requires the witnesses to be present for the very latest prior to the consummation of the marriage. Further, all schools agree that a marriage void of witnesses is invalid.

A’isha radiyaLlahu anha narrated from the Messenger sallaLlahu alayhi wasallam, “There is no marriage without the wali and two witnesses of integrity.”

In the current world, it’s hard to imagine a situation where no witnesses may be found. Hypothetically, if you and your fiancee are the only Muslims on the planet, you may get married due to necessity.

And Allah knows best

Wassalam
[Shaykh] Abdurragmaan Khan

Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz—a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan—the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur—the current Mufti of Tarim; Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani—the Shafi‘i Mufti of Makkah; Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi; Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf; Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh; Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki; Shaykh Ala ad-Din al-Afghani; Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others.