find even an iron ring; they sometimes narrated his words as, “I have married her to you for what you know of the Quran,” and at other times as, “I have made her yours.” Yet it is not established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) confined himself to saying, “I have made her yours.” Rather, he either used both expressions together or used one of them. However, because the two expressions were equivalent in their view in a context such as this, they narrated the hadith sometimes in one form and sometimes in the other.
Moreover, stipulating Arabic wording in a matter such as this is exceedingly remote from Ahmad’s legal principles and explicit statements, as well as from the principles underlying the proofs of the Sharia. Marriage is valid whether contracted by a non-Muslim or a Muslim. Although it is an act of devotion, it is akin to manumission and charity. It is well known that no particular wording—whether Arabic or non-Arabic—is prescribed for manumission. Likewise, by consensus, no Arabic wording is prescribed for charity, endowment, or gifts. Furthermore, even if a non-Arab learns Arabic at the time, he may not understand the intended meaning of that wording as well as he understands it in the language to which he is accustomed.
Admittedly, if it were said that concluding contracts in a language other than Arabic is disliked when there is no need, just as all other forms of communication in a language other than Arabic are disliked when there is no need, that would be a tenable position. Reports have indeed been transmitted from Mālik, Ahmad, and al-Shāfi‘ī indicating that habitually communicating in a language other than Arabic without need is disliked. We have discussed this issue elsewhere.
The followers of Mālik and al-Shāfi‘ī, as well as followers of Ahmad such as Judge Abū Ya‘lā, Ibn Aqīl, and the later scholars, have stated that the customary practices of non-Muslims are authoritative in determining their marriages. Whatever they regard among themselves as a marriage may be allowed to stand if they embrace Islam and seek judgment from us, provided that it does not at that time involve any legal impediment. If, however, they