Someone says that the marriage contract is unnecessary as long as people know that this man will marry that woman and she agrees. He argued that there were no marital contracts during the era of the Messenger of Allah. What is the Sharee‘ah ruling on this? May Allah Reward you.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

This saying could mean one of two things:

First: if he means the wording of the marriage contract, which is the offer on the wife's guardian’s side saying, for example: I give you my daughter in marriage, and the acceptance on the husband’s side saying, for example: I accept to marry her. In this case, his saying is invalid and none of the scholars said that. It is unlawful that the husband enjoys his wife without concluding the marital contract. Also, his claim that the marriage contract did not occur during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah is refuted. As evidence, Sahl ibn Sa‘d said: “A lady came to the Prophet and declared that she had decided to offer herself to Allah and His Messenger . The Prophet said, ‘I am not in need of women.’ A man said (to the Prophet), ‘Marry her off to me.’ The Prophet said (to him), ‘Give her a garment.’ The man said, ‘I cannot afford it.’ The Prophet said, ‘Give her anything, even if it were an iron ring.’ The man apologized again. The Prophet then asked him, ‘What have you memorized of the Quran?’ He replied, ‘I have memorized such-and-such (of the Quran).’ The Prophet said, ‘Then I marry her off to you for that much of the Quran which you have.’" [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

This is a form of marital contract during the lifetime of the Prophet . The wording is the man's offering by saying, "marry her off to me" and the Prophet's acceptance by saying, “I marry her off to you.”

Second: if he means that the marriage official as well as the preceding procedures of the marriage contract including the sermon, saying a certain wording and concluding it at a certain place, such as the Masjid, are unnecessary. This saying is valid if he means that such things are not obligatory. That is because the presence of the marriage official is not prerequisite. On the other hand, the marriage sermon is just recommended.

Allah Knows best.