Conducting Marriages in the Mosque

05/12/2013 03:44

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Conducting Marriages in the Mosque

Marriage & Divorce [1]
Date:
Wed, 09/01/2004
Author:
ISLAMTODAY.NET [2]
Short Content:
Conducting marriages in mosques is a common practice. The people of Mecca and Jeddah,
for instance, are quite keen on holding their marriages in al-Masjid al-Harm, since the
mosque is quite close to them. This has led some people who are concerned with following
the Sunnah to ask whether this practice is actually sanctioned by the Sunnah.
Body:
Conducting Marriages in the Mosque
by: Sheikh Hn al-Jubayr, presiding judge an the Mecca District Court
Conducting marriages in mosques is a common practice. The people of Mecca and Jeddah,
for instance, are quite keen on holding their marriages in al-Masjid al-Harm, since the
mosque is quite close to them. This has led some people who are concerned with following
the Sunnah to ask whether this practice is actually sanctioned by the Sunnah.
First, we must consider the hadth evidence. To start with, there is a hadth where it is related
that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Announce the marriage, hold it in the mosques,
and beat tambourines on its occasion. [ Sunan al-Tirmidh (1089) and Sunan al-Bayhaq
(7/290 15065)]
However, the hadth has a weak chain of transmission, since it contains the narrator `Is b.
Maymn, who relates the hadth from al-Qsim b. Muhammad from `A'ishah from the Prophet
(peace be upon him).
Al-Bayhaq says: `Is b. Maymn is a weak narrator.
Al-Tirmidh says: `Is b. Maymn al-Ansr is considered weak in hadth.
Al-Dhahab informs us that al-Bukhr said: `Is b. Maymn who relates the hadth
Announce the marriage ...' is a weak narrator who amounts to nothing. [ Mzn al-I`tidal
(3/326)]
Al-Dhahab also informs us that `Abd al-Rahmn b. Mahd said: I confronted him (`Is b.
Maymn) about it and said: What are these hadth that you relate from al-Qsim from
`A'ishah?' He replied: I will not repeat them again.' [ Mzn al-I`tidal (3/325)]

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Al-Albn declares this hadth to be weak, both in Irw' al-Ghall (1993) and in Silsilah alAhdth al-Da`fah (978).
I am not aware of any authentic hadth where the Prophet either commanded or prohibed
holding marriages in the mosques. I have, at least, not come across anything of the sort.
Sheikh al-`Uthaymn confirms this in his commentary on the Hanbal legal treatise Zd alMustaqni` , where he comments on the issue of whether it is preferred to hold marriages on a
Friday, saying:
Ibn al-Qayyim mentions that it is appropriate for the marriage to be held in the
mosque as well (as on a Friday) due to the honor of the time and the place.
However, this is questionable on both counts, unless there is something in the
Sunnah to establish it. If there is, then good and well. However, I know of nothing
in the Sunnah to attest to it. [ Al-Sharh al-Mumti` (5/132)]
With regard to the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him) we have what is related in the
following hadth about the woman who approached Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him)
and offered herself to him in marriage:
She said: O Messenger of Allah, I have come to you to entrust myself to you.
A person from amongst his Companions stood up and said: O Messenger of
Allah, marry her to me if you have no need of her.
He (the Prophet) said: Is there anything with you (which you can give to her as a
dowry)?
He said: No, O Messenger of Allah. By Allah, I have nothing.
Thereupon Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Go to your people
(family) and see if you can find something.
He returned and said: I have found nothing. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon
him) said: See, even if but an iron ring.
He said to him: Do you know any part of the Qur'n? He said: I know such and
such chapters (and he counted them).
Thereupon Allah's Messenger said: Go. I have given her to you in marriage for
the part of the Qur'n which you know. [ Sahh al-Bukhr (5149) and Sahh
Muslim (1425)]
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqaln, in his commentary on this hadth, informs us that in a narration of this
hadth from Sufyn al-Thawr, it is mentioned that this incident took place in the mosque. [
Fath al-Br (9/113)] Here we have a situation where the Prophet (peace be upon him)
conducted a marriage in a mosque, though admittedly, it appears that the location was more
incidental than intentional.
Secondly, when we turn our attention to the opinions of the jurists, we find the jurists of all
four schools of thought to be agreed that it is Sunnah to hold the marriage in the mosque.
Ibn Taymiyah says: It is preferable to contract the marriage in the mosque. [ Majm` alhttp://en.islamtoday.net/print/3355

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Fatw (32/18)]
Ibn Qsim writes: It is Sunnah to hold it in the mosque. This is what Ibn al-Qayyim said, and
he is a trustworthy, erudite scholar who does not declare something to be Sunnah except
when there is a legitimate basis for doing so. [ Hshiyah al-Rawd al-Murbi` (6/243)]
Lastly, we need to consider that the reason for contracting the marriage in the mosque is to
seek the blessings of doing so in that location. Al-Mubrakfr, in his commentary on Sunan
al-Tirmidh discusses the hadth Announce the marriage, hold it in the mosques, and beat
tambourines on its occasion and says:
With respect to the statement hold it in the mosques , this is either on account of
it making the marriage easier to announce publicly or to attain the blessings of the
location. [ Tuhfah al-Ahwadh (4/210)]
Without doubt, Allah has made certain locations more blessed than others, and mosques are
among these locations. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The most beloved places in
the land to Allah are its mosques. [ Sahh Muslim (671)]
The share of blessings held by al-Masjid al-Harm in Mecca is greater. Allah says: Glory be
to Him who betook His servant for a swift journey by night from al-Masjid al-Harm to al-Aqs
Mosque whose precincts We did bless. [ Srah al-Isr' : 1]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said about Mecca : Indeed, it is the best of Allah's Earth
and the most beloved of Allah's Earth to Allah. [ Musnad Ahmad (4/305) and Mustadrak alHkim (3/7) with an authentic line of transmission]
What remains, however, is the question of how we are supposed to realize the blessings of
these localities.
`Urwah relates from `A'ishah that she said: Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) married
me in the month of Shawwl and consummated the marriage in the month of Shawwl. So
then, which of the Prophet's wives was more favored by him than me?
`Urwah then comments that ` A 'ishah used to prefer that the women of her acquaintance
enter upon their marriages in the month of Shawwl. [ Sahh Muslim (1423)]
This hadth provides us with two things. The first is that it dispenses with the superstitious
hatred of contracting or consummating a marriage in the month of Shawwl that used to exist
amongst the pagan Arabs before Islam.
More important for what we are discussing is that the hadth shows us the permissibility of
following the mere action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) even when there is no evidence
that the circumstances surrounding the action were specifically intended or were anything
other than a coincidence. If the Prophet (peace be upon him) had specifically intended the
month of Shawwl as the time for the marriage and for consummating the marriage, he would
certainly have expressed this in unequivocal terms, since his words provide a more decisive
indication of such things than his actions.
The mere fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him) conducted a marriage in the mosque
prevents us from construing a person's preference for doing so as an innovation, since giving
preference to a place (the mosque) is no different than what `A'ishah did by giving preference
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Conducting Marriages in the Mosque

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to a time (the month of Shawwal).

In brief, we say that it is permissible for a person to give preference to the mosque as the
place to conduct a marriage. Doing so is not an innovation or unprecedented act. However,
there is no evidence for saying that in Islamic Law it takes the ruling of being something
preferred or that it is a Sunnah to hold the marriage in the mosque. At the same time, we do
not censure those who regard it as being something Islamically preferred, in consideration of
the fact that this is the opinion of many of the greatest scholars.
Marriage & Divorce
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