Can We Redo Our Nikah Contract to Correct Errors and Have Our Chosen Witnesses Sign?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Can we redo our Nikah contract to correct errors and have our chosen witnesses sign it?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Correcting Errors in a Nikah Contract

In Islamic law, a nikah (marriage) contract is a solemn verbal agreement that must meet specific requirements to be valid. If errors were present in the original verbal contract—whether clerical, procedural, or related to witnesses—the contract would have been invalid, and a new marriage contract (offer and acceptance) would be required.

If the error was only in the written document, you may have a new written contract written with the correct details, provided the core conditions of a valid Nikah were met at the time of the original contract. Please view the details here.

While writing contracts is sunna, the verbal agreement is the critical factor when determining the validity of contracts in Islam. Allah says,

“O believers! When you contract a loan for a fixed period, write it down…” [Quran, 2:282]

Please visit this related answer regarding the conditions of a marriage contract.

And Allah knows best.

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Mohammad Abu Bakr Badhib

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.