Question:
Assalamualaikum ustaz, recently, there was a viral video of a couple of whom their marriage was recorded, but, during the akad, the groom did not shake hands with the qadi. Is the marriage valid? Hope for an explanation from ustaz. Thank you.
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam w.b.t. Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Islam encourages its followers to marry for it is the sunnah of the Prophet PBUH. Furthermore, there are numerous good and benefits of marriage, towards the individual as well as the society. This is stated in a hadith narrated by Abu Ayyub RA, he said:
أَرْبَعٌ مِنْ سُنَنِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ: الْحَيَاءُ، وَالتَّعَطُّرُ، وَالسِّوَاكُ، وَالنِّكَاحُ
"Four are from the Sunan of the Messengers: Al-Hayat, using Atar, the Siwak, and marriage."
Sunan al-Tirmizi (1080)
In fulfilling the commandment of marriage, a person can never run from fulfilling the commandment of syara’ in order for the marriage to be valid. Thus, it is wajib for a person who intends to marry to follow the requisites and valid conditions of the marriage. Dr Muhammad Zuhaili stated that an akad of a marriage is incomplete unless it fulfils the requisites and valid conditions of the requisites. (See al-Mu’tamad fi al-Fiqh a-Syafi’e, 4/53)
In al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, it is stated that there are five requisites of marriage which are sighah, bride, groom, wali and two witness. Dr Muhammad Zuhaili detailed the requisite of marriage into six which are sighah (ijab and qabul), al- A’qidan (groom and wali), bride and two witnesses. (See al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, 4/55; al-Mu’tamad, 4/53)
Coming back to the question asked regarding shaking hands during the utterance of akad for marriage, then the requisite of sighah should be analysed, whether shaking hands is a valid condition of it.
Sighah meant here is the sighah of akad which is the utterance or action of the person performing the akad (agreement) which shows his consent. Jurists are of the opinion that sighah should consist of ijab (pronouncement of giving) and qabul (pronouncement of acceptance). (See al-Mausu’ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, 30/200)
Dr Muhammad Zuhaili explained that the akad for marriage is invalid except with sighah of ijab and qabul.
Ijab is the utterance from the wali of the bride saying “I marry you to…” or other phrases with the same meaning.
Qabul is the utterance of the groom saying “I accept this marriage,” “I accept her as my wife,” “I gave my consent for this marriage.” (See al-Mu’tamad fi al-Fiqh al-Syafi’e, 4/53)
In al-Fiqh al-Manhaji it is stated, the conditions for the akad are:
- The utterance must consist of the utterance of marry or nikah or other derivative verbs from them. Such as “I’m marrying you to…” or “I’m performing your nikah to…” and it is answered with “I accept this marriage,” or “I accept this nikah.”
- The marriage or nikah utterance in ijab and qabul are clear. An example is when the wali of the bride stated “I marry you with my daughter.” And thus, it is answered by the groom “Accept” then, the marriage is invalid. The reason is the usage of words by both parties for the akad are vague. Dr Muhammad Zuhaili said it is invalid because just the statement of marriage or nikah and intention is not enough. It also contains figurative statement which is invalid for akad in marriage.
(See al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, 4/55-56; al-Mu’tamad, 4/53-55)
Conclusion
Coming back to the question asked and the jurists’ discussion, we can conclude that not shaking hands for the akad utterance will not invalidate the akad and the marriage is valid. This is due to the fact that the valid condition of akad for marriage is the utterance of ijab and qabul together with the words of marriage or nikah.
Thus, shaking hands during the akad for marriage is not a valid condition of akad but a sunnah of the Prophet PBUH for bai’ah or meetings with his Companions. The same is stated by Imam Badruddin al-A’ini who cited the opinion of al-Karmani who said shaking hands is a sign or signal of owning up to the responsibility, whether it is for marriage or agreement. (See Umdah al-Qari syarh Sahih al-Bukhari, 24/277)
Furthermore, for the akad to be valid, it must fulfil the other requisites of the akad for marriage such as wali, two witnesses, the groom, the bride for the marriage ceremony.
May Allah SWT give us a sahih understanding in practising His religion and guide us to always obey His commandments the best we could.