Islamic Nikah

We are often asked about Talak – Khulla or Fasqh but sadly we are never asked about Nikah, this is mainly because not a lot of thought has gone into understanding Nikah before the agreement is made, people generally rush into Nikah without doing any due diligence, the marriage then breaks down and people wonder why.

So here is list below to do before agreeing to a nikah:

1. Start by making regular & sincere dua to the Almighty that Allah SWT shows the path which is good for you
2. Perform Istekhaara regularly
3. Seek advice from, parents, elders and all your loved ones, they will never want bad for you.
4. When seeking advice please listen to their advice attentively and do not speak over them.
5. Nabi SAW said when looking for a spouse, look for 4 things. these are Wealth,  Family Status, Beauty & Deen, but the one who is successful is the one who marries for the Deen, pay particular attention to this advice by the Prophet SAW, this means clearly that you marry someone who is firm on the Deen and will be aiding you to get closer to Allah, any other expectation and condition would be considered as unacceptable. yes we agree that couples should be attracted to one another too but ultimately the Deen needs to be firm.
6. Remember that the Nikah is one of the most favoured blessings from our creator to the human being and it is a contract of justness signed in front of the Almighty , where both parties sign to agree to be just to one another, this literally means you MUST treat your spouse as you want to be treated yourself and overlook one another’s shortcomings, in fact you must become a cloak for one another hiding each others mistakes from the public arena.
7. One another’s families must be compatible, this is often overlooked as people seem to make the mistake of thinking that you are just marrying the person and not the family, whilst this may be literally true, however in practice it is the family that is the true support mechanism and strength needed to keep the marriage together,  remember that your elders are an umbrella and blessing for you, your spouses elders are yours and your elders are your spouses too,  if the elders and family unit is strong then your marriage will withstand all your obstacles.
8. Do not insist on having your own house immediately after marriage, this is sometimes not possible, we know people in the 50’s and still do not own their own home, this is not a hindrance and should never be a condition.
9. Do not seek a huge Mahar or a prenuptial,  the mahar should be affordable and payable immediately, we have had cases where thousands of pounds was written in MAHAR, they write in the contract if the husband decides to divorce his wife then she will receive £10,000 from the husband, this is pre-empting a breakup even before you start and is not Islamic.
10. The bride & groom to be must have an understanding between themselves and therefore must be allowed to meet under the Islamic guidelines to see if there is compatibility, this is important to make sure they are in fact seeking similar things in life insh Allah.

After this you can perform the nikah, we have outlined the simple steps for this below:

An Islamic Marriage (Nikah) is only valid once the pre-requisites have been met, which are as follows:

1. A Gift (Mahr) (NOT DOWRY) is agreed and paid to the bride by the groom
2. Two witnesses are required
3. Any person who can conduct the Nikah Ceremony, does not have to be an Imam or a Scholar
4. The Walima (Reception) is a loved Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH and it is to make the nikah public and remove ambiguity but if the couple cannot afford to do so then it is recommended they keep the walima simple and feed a handful of people with light refreshments, there is no requirement in Islam to spend thousands of pounds on hiring fancy cars and lavish venues to entertain guests, in fact this is against Islamic values and is Haram

5. Please also remember that Nikah can only be performed between a Man & a Women in Islam

Keep making duas these are very powerful to seek the secret ingredient to make every relationship successful, barakah, without barakah relationships simply do not work.