Is Our Marriage Valid if We Renewed Our Marriage Without Witnesses?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

I did say a statement of kufr in Ramadan 2018 and then regretted saying it afterward. This could be due to overthinking. Will I be forgiven for this as it may not be waswasa?

After this, I renewed my iman by saying the kalima and renewed marriage, me and my wife went to see an imam and renewed with him, as I recall there weren’t two witnesses. Secondly, Allah forgives me if I’m wrong but I’m sure the imam said ‘an imam is so many witnesses’ and we went ahead with the renewal of marriage, we sat with him and he was reading something, this was in Morocco.

Was there any need to renew iman and marriage, and did this thing I said to come from overthinking? And will I be forgiven for this as I did regret it afterward, what if it happens again in the future because it was in Ramadan, am I right in thinking that it most likely isn’t waswasa.

Answer

Fear not. If your repentance was genuine and sincere you will be forgiven. It’s narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “He who repents from a sin is like the one who has no sin.” [Bayhaqi]

I cannot tell if the statement was said deliberately, or if there were other contributory factors. However, the matter is a serious one. The consequences of disbelief are very severe in the Next Life. Islam is a religion that makes perfect sense and is nourishing to the mind and the soul.

Any doubts you may have had are best addressed immediately. Imagine if you died after making the statement. You should speak to a scholar in detail about what led you to it and have those doubts clarified permanently. “Flee to Allah…” [Quran, 51:50]

Renewing Your Marriage

According to most of the schools of Fiqh, there must be witnesses present at the time of the marriage contract. The Maliki school allows making others witnesses to the occurrence of the marriage to be delayed – as long as it happens before the consummation of the marriage. [al-Mawsu’a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya]

I don’t know what the imam meant by his statement. It seems that he would only count as one witness. If you told other people about the renewal of the nikah you can assume it was valid. Otherwise, it might be safer to perform another nikah again after consultation with a scholar, and with all the conditions present.

May Allah make our iman flourish and make the day we meet Him the best of our days. Amin.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.