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Fatwa CenterA New Marriage Contract Is Necessary
Question
There are a few issues that are troubling me and I want to clarify them. I hate to admit this and I am repenting as I was not a virgin before I got married. I was married earlier this year and was separated a month into the marriage. I did not consummate the marriage with this man because I was having problems within the 1st week of the marriage. I got divorced 2 months into the marriage Islamically but my legal paperwork still needs to be completed. My Nikah was performed with another man 1 week after the Islamic divorce and this marriage was consummated. I have read that there is no Iddah period if the marriage has not been consummated which it hadn't been with the first husband therefore I remarried soon after. My current husband has doubts if my 1st marriage has been consummated, how can I prove to him that it hasn't been. Should I ask him to call my ex-husband to verify? Secondly, legally I am not married to the 2nd husband because I am still in the process of legally divorcing my 1st husband. But Islamically I am divorced with 1st husband and married to the 2nd one. Is my Nikah valid with the 2nd husband? Also, the 2nd Nikah was performed without the knowledge of any of our families. After the Nikah we both told our mothers and then later my father found out but the rest of the families do not know. I have also heard somewhere that the Nikah cannot be kept secret or else it is invalid, is this true? In my second marriage there were 2 random witnesses from the Masjid but no Wali. Does this make the Nikah invalid? I am in the process of repenting for all my sins but please clarify all this for me.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If your first husband had not had any sexual intercourse with you neither had he stayed with you in seclusion where he could have had sex with you; then, in this case, you do not need to observe an 'Iddah (waiting period). Therefore, you may get married right after being divorced. Allah Says (what means): {O you who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is not for you any waiting period to count concerning them.} [Quran 33:49]
If your first husband had stayed with you in in seclusion, then the ruling of having sex becomes effective even if he had not had sexual intercourse with you. This is the opinion of the Maaliki, Hanbali, and Hanafi Schools of jurisprudence. Therefore, you have to do the same things just like the woman who was divorced after having sexual relations does; i.e. she has to complete her ‘Iddah, she has the right for complete Mahr (bridal money), and she gets the maintenance till the end of her ‘Iddah. We conclude that if you had stayed in seclusion with your first husband and then got married without observing ‘Iddah, then your second marriage is invalid. Moreover, you got married without the knowledge of your guardian. Any marriage that is done without the consent of the guardian is invalid according to the majority of Muslim scholars. The Prophet said: “Marriage is invalid except with the consent of the guardian.”
Therefore, this marriage should be cancelled immediately. There is no objection to marrying him again after waiting menstrual periods and fulfilling the conditions of a valid marriage.
Allah knows best.
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