Nikah The Contract - NikahExplorer

Nikah, the act of getting married, is a contract between a man and a woman to live together in togetherness and love with the blessing of Allah. It is one of the most sacred acts that can be carried out between a man and a woman who wish to stay together as husband and wife and is greatly encouraged in Islam.

When the Nikah takes place, an Imam reads the verses of the Quran and asks both the bride and the groom if they agree to be married to each other. If they both say yes thrice, the contract of Nikah is sealed. Even if one of them says No, the Nikah does not take place. Such is the importance of this contract. It gives both the husband and the wife not only the right to live with each other lawfully but also gives each of them responsibilities that they did not have before they got married.

Much has been said about the new responsibilities that arise for the husband and the wife as a result of getting married but less has been said about the “transfer” of responsibility after the act of Nikah has been carried out. Transferring the responsibility refers to the taking of responsibility from the father of the girl by the husband.

Hence after the Nikah has been carried out, the responsibility of the girl falls into the lap of the husband and is transferred from the father. That is not to say that the father has now less of a role in his daughter’s life. It only means that the husband is now responsible for the welfare and care of this girl, whose father had for so many years brought her up without a scratch. The husband is not only the girl’s care taker but also her provider, her protector, her guide, her knight in shining armour; all those things that she had seen in her father before she signed the sacred contract of Nikah.

So be aware of that contract that you are signing. If you are a girl, know that your responsibility will be transferred to your husband and so think carefully before getting married. Will he be as strong, protecting, caring as your father was when you were growing in his house?  Will he be able to provide for you like your father did? Would he give you the respect that you saw your father give to your mother? Will he be honourable, dignified, like your father?  If the above are all yes then go ahead and sign the contract of Nikah with him and happily live with him. But if you have a doubt that this man will not be half the man our father was, don’t settle. Don’t enter the contract. May all the girls find a man who they are easily able to agree to transfer their responsibility to. Ameen.