Question:
Is it permissible to conduct the contract of the marriage in the masjid?
Answer:
There came a Hadith commanding with this, (conducting marriage in the masjid) unfortunately the hadith has not been confirmed on the Prophet ﷺ. In the chain of narrators was Issa bin Maimoon who is considered extremely weak in reporting hadiths. So for this reason this hadith has not been confirmed to be authentic on the Prophet ﷺ. As for just the marriage contract, without any announcements and invitations to gather the people, in terms of permissibility, then it is permissibile. For example the person is in the masjid and he approaches the father or uncle of the woman he is interested in marrying, they agree to a marriage contract and they have witnesses, in terms of permissibility,then it is permissibile.
The Prophet ﷺ in the hadith of Sa’ad ibn Sa’ad as-Sa’adi (may Allah have mercy on him) when the woman came forth and offered herself in marriage to the Prophet and he ﷺ didn’t respond to her proposal. In some of the narrations it explains that he ﷺ didn’t have any desire for her, so one of the companions stood up and said, oh Messenger of Allah if you don’t have any desire for her marry her to me. So the Messenger of Allah said, “Do you have anything with you (to give her as a dowry)? He said, “I have Nothing.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do you have at least one iron ring?” The man said, “No”. So he asked him, “Do you have anything (memorized) from the Qur’an?” So the man said, “Yes, I have memorize this surah and this surah and this surah.” So the Messenger of Allah said, “I marry you to her for what you have memorized from the Qur’an.” And Allah knows best, this was in the masjid. So in the sense of the contract it is permissible (to conduct it) in the masjid. As for all the announcements and invitations stating the marriage will take place at this masjid on this day at this time to gather all of the people as if it was a religious conference or a Friday sermon or a class, then the likes of this has not been authenticly reported on the Prophet ﷺ. In addition to this, that which takes place from impermissible actions like raising of the voices in the masjid, loud group laughing, taking pictures of things that possess souls, and other than these that are not from the actions of the masjid. Perhaps there will be clapping and cheering and things that are not befitting of the masjid. So the likes of these weddings in the masjid is not known in the legislations of Islam. As for the person approaching the guardian of the woman in the masjid with regards to the marriage contract, or the one looking to marry his daughter, while they have some people present as witnesses there is no harm in this. But as for all the announcements and invitations to attend the marriage at a specific time in the masjid to gather hundreds of people then this action has no bases in Islam. And the hadith that mentions this is not authentic.
And Allah knows best.
Answered by: Shaikh Abu Abdillah Muhammad Ba Jamaal (May Allah preserve him)
Source: https://t.me/bajmaal/5088
Translated by: Abu Yusuf Bilal ibn Howard Robinson