it is confined to very few. It may be thought that there is disagreement on this within Ahmad’s school. But one must then ask: what distinguishes this from women taking secret lovers? Among Abū Hanīfah’s followers who require witnesses, some do not explain this requirement as a means of establishing the marital relationship. Rather, the purpose is for two people to attend in recognition of the solemnity of marriage. This ultimately serves the purpose of public announcement.

Where people are unfamiliar with one another’s circumstances and do not know whether the woman living with a man is his wife or his lover—as in places with many people whose circumstances are unknown—it may be said that witnessing is obligatory in such cases.

The Companions did not draw up “dower documents,” because they did not marry with deferred dowers. Rather, they paid the dower immediately, and if they deferred it, it remained known. When people began marrying with deferred dowers, however, lengthy periods would pass and the dower would be forgotten. They therefore began recording the deferred amount, and this became evidence establishing both the dower and that the woman was the man’s wife. Such witnessing achieves the intended purpose whether the witnesses attend the marriage contract or come afterward and witness the acknowledgment of the husband, wife, and guardian, knowing that the marriage has been publicly announced. Having them witness it without any agreement to conceal it is itself a public announcement.

This differs from the requirement of a “marriage guardian,” which is established in several places in the Quran and several places in the Sunnah. It was also the practice of the Companions: men were the ones who married women off, and no woman is known to have contracted her own marriage.

This is one of the distinctions between marriage and women taking secret lovers. Hence ʿĀ’ishah said:

“A woman may not contract her own marriage, for it is the prostitute who contracts her own marriage.”

Yet the guardian’s involvement alone is not sufficient; the marriage must also be publicly announced, for some guardians are indulgent toward their female relatives.