Marriage formula: Difference between revisions

In the permanent marriage, if the man and woman are to recite the formula, first the woman should say, "Zawwajtuk-a nafsi ala l-sidaq al-ma'lum"<ref>{{ia|زَوَّجتُکَ نَفسی علی الصِداق المَعلوم}}</ref>, meaning "I married myself to you upon the known (specified) mahr". Then, the man should say, "qabilt-u al-tazwij ala al-sidaq al-ma'lum" {{ia|قَبِلتُ التَزویج علی الصِداق المَعلوم, meaning “I accepted the marriage upon the known (specified) dowry.” He might also only say, "qabilt-u-ttazwij” with the intention of marriage with known (specified) dowry.

If the man and the woman choose two others as their advocates to recite the formula for marriage, and for example the name of the man is Ahmad and the name of the woman is Fatima, the woman’s advocate should say, “zawwajtu muwakkilati Fatima muwakkiluk-a Ahmad ‘ala-ssidaq al-ma’lum”, meaning “I made my client Fatima married to your client Ahmad upon the known (specified) dowry”. Then, the man’s advocate should say, “qabilt-u-ttazwij li muwakkili Ahmad ‘ala-ssidaq al-ma’lum” meaning “I accepted the marriage for my client Ahmad upon the known (specified) dowry.”

About the formula for temporary marriage, if the man and the woman recite it themselves, after they specify the duration of marriage and the dowry, the woman should say, “zawwajtuk-a nafsi fi-l-muddat-i-l-ma’luma ‘ala-l-mihr-i-l-ma’lum”, meaning “I married myself to you for a specified duration upon the known (specified) dowry”; then, the man should say, “qabilt-u”, meaning “I accepted”.

If the man and the woman choose two others as their advocates to recite the formula for marriage, first, the woman’s advocate should tell to the man’s advocate, “zawwajtu muwakkilati muwakkiluk-a fi-l-muddat-i-l-ma’luma ‘ala-l-mihr-i-l-ma’lum”, meaning “I made my client married to your client for a specified duration upon the known (specified) dowry”. Then, the man’s advocate should say, “qabilt-u-ttazwij li muwakkili ha kadha”, meaning “I accepted the marriage for my client as such.”

Reciting a sermon before reciting the formula for marriage is among the practices recommended before reciting the formula for marriage. In this sermon, the praises of God, the Prophet (a) and the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are mentioned. Sermons of the marriages between the Prophet (a) and Khadija, ‘Ali (a) and Fatima (a) and other Shi’a Imams (a) are narrated in the books of fiqh and hadiths.

The Prophet (a) recited the sermon below before the marriage of Ali (a) and Fatima (a):

# It has to be recited in Arabic. However, some fiqh scholars have considered non-Arabic formula valid as well, provided that such words are used which convey the meanings of “zawwajt-u” and “qabilt-u”.

# It is not necessary that the words the man says match with those the woman says; for example, it is not necessary that if the woman says “zawwajt-u”, then the man says, “qabbalt-u-ttazwij”.