Had English legal wedding but no Islamic wedding
Fatwa No: 85960

Question

My Tunisian husband came to this country and we had to get a legal English wedding in the registry office to get his visa. After I became a proper Muslim, i.e. took my Shahadha I asked my husband for an Islamic wedding. He said he won't have one as his brother came to the English registry office. He says he doesn't need one and that an Islamic wedding is a waste of time. I think that even though we are married in English law we are not married in Islamic law and as such I am committing sin by sleeping with him. Please advise, very concerned.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. If the marriage contract you concluded met the Islamic conditions of validity that should be present in any such contract, then, there is no need to do the contract again. But if it did not meet these conditions, then it should be done again and it is unlawful for you to let him have intimate contacts with you until the contract is redone. For details about conditions that should be fulfilled in any marriage contract, please read Fatawa:8138582072 and 83629. Allah knows best.

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