Marriage in Islam

In Islamic law, marriage involves nikah (Arabic: نِكَاح, romanized: nikāḥ) the agreement to the marriage contract (ʿaqd al-qirān, nikah nama, etc.), or more specifically, the bride's acceptance (qubul) of the groom's dower (mahr), and the witnessing of her acceptance. In addition, there are several other traditional steps such as khitbah (preliminary meeting(s) to get to know the other party and negotiate terms), walimah (marriage feast), zifaf/rukhsati ("sending off" of bride and groom).

In addition to the requirement that a formal, binding contract – either oral or on paper – of rights and obligations for both parties be drawn up, there are a number of other rules for marriage in Islam: among them that there be witnesses to the marriage, a gift from the groom to the bride known as a mahr, that both the groom and the bride freely consent to the marriage; that the groom can be married to more than one woman (a practice known as polygyny) but no more than four, that the women can be married to no more than one man, developed (according to Islamic sources) from the Quran, (the holy book of Islam) and hadith (the passed down saying and doings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad). Divorce is permitted in Islam and can take a variety of forms, some executed by a husband personally and some executed by a religious court on behalf of a plaintiff wife who is successful in her legal divorce petition for valid cause.

In addition to the usual marriage intended for raising families, the Twelver branch of Shia Islam permits zawāj al-mut'ah or "temporary", fixed-term marriage; and some Sunni Islamic scholars permit nikah misyar marriage, which lacks some conditions such as living together. A nikah 'urfi, "customary" marriage, is one not officially registered with state authorities.

Traditional marriage in Islam has been criticized (by modernist Muslims) and defended (by traditionalist Muslims) for allowing polygamy and easy divorce.

In the Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, nikah is defined as "marriage; marriage contract; matrimony, wedlock". In the Quran, nikah is used to refer to the contract of marriage. According to at least a couple of sources -- Ibrahim B. Syed and the Ahlan Foundation -- the Quran also uses "a strong agreement" (Arabic: مِّيثَـٰقًا غَلِيظًۭا, romanized: mithaqun ghalithun), in verse Q.4:21, to refer to marriage.

In Arabic-speaking countries, marriage is commonly called zawāj (Arabic: زواج, from the Quranic term zawj (Arabic: زوج), referring to a member of a pair), and this term has recently gained currency among Muslim speakers of other languages as well.

The marriage contract is known by different names:

The marriage celebration may be called