Question
My husband and I entered into marriage contact a few years ago in the presence of my parents. We kept it secret from my in-laws for they were against our marriage. Now they have agreed. Can we contract a new nikah in their presence? I also fear that if they found out the truth they will disown us, and probably not accept me.
Answer
I understand that you married a person with consent of your parents and against the will of the parents of your husband who still do not know anything regarding this matter due to their being away or because of your keeping the relationship secret. If you have kept the nikah secret from the society of which the parents of your husband are part then you have indeed transgressed the Shariah laws which requires that a nikah is contracted in public and is duly announced among the relations and the society. In this case you need to ask forgiveness from the Almighty and declare the marriage. Contracting a new nikah can be a form of such open declaration. If however the parents of the husband could not know it because they live in another part of the world and do not know much about their son and the fact remained hidden from them only for this reason and the nikah was never kept secret from the relations and the immediate society then the present nikah is valid. Repeating the nikah would mean nothing. It is only the social aspect of the matter you are concerned about and should only be carried out if there is no other option. For it is only hiding facts, an act not condoned in normal circumstances. However I have already stated that contracting the nikah or leaving it does not affect the present relationship.
Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi
Date: 2015-01-28
