Question
As‑Salamu ‘Alaikum, I would like to know if a marriage without witnesses, in which my wali (guardian) was present but did not make the marriage offer to my husband, is considered invalid by consensus or not. My husband and I gave our consent ourselves (I take you as my husband / I take you as my wife), but my guardian did not tell my husband, “I give you her in marriage.” We have since re‑performed the marriage according to the proper rules, just in case, but there were divorces in the previous marriage. If the first marriage is judged invalid, then according to some scholars, those divorces would not be counted. JazakAllahu khair for your guidance regarding the validity of the first marriage and whether the divorces should be considered effective or not. If there is a divergence regarding the counting of the divorces, please enumerate them.
Islamic Ruling & Answer
VerifiedWalekumussalam,
In Hanafi fiqh, the presence of two sane and adult witnesses is necessary for a marriage to be valid. If a marriage takes place without witnesses, it is considered invalid (bāṭil), whether the guardian (wali) was present or not, and even if the offer and acceptance were carried out by the man and woman themselves.
Therefore, according to your description, since the first marriage took place without witnesses, it was not legally concluded in the Shar‘i sense (it was invalid).
Ruling on divorce:
Since the first marriage itself was not valid, any divorces issued within it are also not considered effective, because divorce is only (valid) in the case of a valid marriage.
However, the second marriage that you performed according to the proper rules is the valid and recognized one, and all future rulings will be based on it.
Answered by
Mufti Tosif Qasmi
March 19, 2026
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