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If a man asks a woman have you married and she replies yes

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by DarulIftaBirmingham

Answered by: Maulana Jamal Ahmed

Question

A man came to a woman and said, ’Have you married  Rahim?’ Or ‘Did you marry Rahim? ’And the woman replies, ’yes’ in front of many people, does it mean the woman is married to Rahim?

Answer

The contract of marriage is complete when there is an offer on one side and acceptance from the other side in front of two sane adults who are Muslims or one male and two females. Therefore if a person says “marry me, or I have married you, or marry your daughter to me, and the other says I have accepted or I have married my daughter to you” then the marriage contract is complete. 

If a person cannot be present at the place of contract then he can send his agent with the authority to either extend an offer of marriage or accept an offer of marriage on behalf of him. 

In your case, if the man who asked the question was Raheem himself or his agent then in this case the nikah will be valid if there were at least two Muslim men or one man and two women present and listening to the conversation. 

(يُعَبَّرُ بِهِمَا عَنْ الْمَاضِي) أَيْ يُبَيَّنُ بِهِمَا وَالتَّعْبِيرُ هُوَ الْبَيَانُ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى {إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لِلرُّؤْيَا تَعْبُرُونَ} [يوسف: ٤٣] أَيْ تُبَيِّنُونَ قَوْلُهُ (أَوْ يُعَبَّرُ بِأَحَدِهِمَا عَنْ الْمَاضِي وَالْآخَرِ عَنْ الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ مِثْلُ أَنْ يَقُولَ زَوِّجْنِي فَيَقُولُ قَدْ زَوَّجْتُك) وَهَذَا اسْتِحْسَانٌ وَالْقِيَاسُ أَنْ لَا يَجُوزَ لِأَنَّ الْمُسْتَقْبَلَ اسْتِفْهَامٌ وَعِدَةٌ فَلَا يَنْعَقِدُ بِهِ. وَجْهُ الِاسْتِحْسَانِ أَنَّ النِّكَاحَ لَا يَقَعُ فِيهِ الْمُسَاوَمَةُ فَكَانَ الْقَصْدُ بِلَفْظِهِ الْإِيجَابَ فَصَارَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْمَاضِي وَقَوْلُهُ وَالْآخَرِ عَنْ الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ يُرِيدُ بِالْمُسْتَقْبَلِ لَفْظَ الْأَمْرِ مِثْلُ زَوِّجْنِي.

Jawharatunnayyirah, vol.2, pg. 2, Al mataba’ah al khairiyah

وهو (ينعقد بالإيجاب) من أحد المتعاقدين (والقبول) من الآخر (بلفظين يعبر بهما عن الماضي) مثل أن يقول: زوجتك، فيقول الآخر: تزوجت؛ لأن الصيغة وإن كانت للأخبار وضعاً فقد جعلت للإنشاء شرعا، دفعاً للحاجة (أو) بلفظين (يعبر بأحدهما عن الماضي و) يعبر (بالآخر عن المستقبل) وذلك (مثل أن يقول) الزوج للمخاطب: (زوجني) ابنتك، مثلا (فيقول: زوجتك) ، لأن هذا توكيل بالنكاح، والواحد يتولى طرفي النكاح على ما نبينه، هداية.

Al lubab, vol.3, pg. 3, Al maktabatul Ilmiyah

قُلْنَا: لَوْ صَرَّحَ بِالِاسْتِفْهَامِ اُعْتُبِرَ فَهْمُ الْحَالِ قَالَ فِي شَرْحِ الطَّحَاوِيِّ: لَوْ قَالَ هَلْ أَعْطَيْتنِيهَا فَقَالَ أَعْطَيْت إنْ كَانَ الْمَجْلِسُ لِلْوَعْدِ فَوَعْدٌ، وَإِنْ كَانَ لِلْعَقْدِ فَنِكَاحٌ. اهـ.
قَالَ الرَّحْمَتِيُّ: فَعَلِمْنَا أَنَّ الْعِبْرَةَ لِمَا يَظْهَرُ مِنْ كَلَامِهِمَا لَا لِنِيَّتِهِمَا، 

Raddul Muhtar, vol 3, pg. 11, darul fikr

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Jamal Ahmed

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

This answer was collected from DarulIftaBirmingham.co.uk, which is run under the supervision of Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah from the United Kingdom.

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