- And He also says: “O you who believe, be mindful of Allah and speak words that are upright; He will rectify your deeds for you and forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has truly achieved a magnificent triumph.” ⦗Qur’an 33:70-71⦘
As for the pillars of the marriage contract, they are three:
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The presence of a bride and groom who are free of any impediment that would invalidate the marriage—such as the woman’s being among those permanently forbidden to the man by blood-relationship, foster-relationship, waiting period (ʿidda), and the like, or the man’s being a non-Muslim while the woman is Muslim—together with any other legal impediments that we shall explain, Allah willing.
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The occurrence of ijab (the offer), meaning the wording uttered by the guardian or whoever stands in his place, such as: “I marry you to So-and-so,” or “I wed her to you.”
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The occurrence of qubul (the acceptance), meaning the wording uttered by the groom or whoever represents him, such as: “I accept this marriage,” or “I accept this wedding.”
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his disciple Ibn al-Qayyim held that a marriage is concluded with any wording that clearly conveys that meaning and is not limited to the specific terms inkaḥtu and zawwajtu.
Those who restrict it to these two expressions argue that they are the words employed by the Quran, as in His statement, “When Zayd had finished with her, We married her to you” ⦗Qur’an 33:37⦘, and His statement, “Do not marry those women whom your fathers married” ⦗Qur’an 4:22⦘. In reality, however, this does not necessitate limiting the contract to those two words alone. Allah knows best.