Proprieties of marriage (1- 8) Marriage speech:

It is desirable at the marriage contract that a fiancé or someone else delivers a speech (1)

The wordings of the speech should be as follows: "Indeed, praise be to Allah. We praise Him, seek His Help and Forgiveness, and we repent to Him of our sins. We seek refuge with Allah against the evils of ourselves and the evils of our actions. Whom Allah guides there is no one can mislead and whom Allah misleads no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger." Then the deliverer should recite the following three Ayahs: "O you who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islâm [as Muslims (with complete submission to Allâh)]."(2) "O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwâ' (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allâh through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allâh is Ever an All-Watcher over you."(3) "O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth." (4) (5)

Explanation of the Hadith:

 (Indeed, praise be to Allah. We praise Him,) for all His Favors including the favor of marriage. (seek His Help) to praise and obey Him. (and Forgiveness) for the negligence of our worship and the delay of our obedience. (We seek refuge with Allah against the evils of ourselves) i.e., against the emergence of our evils and the conditions of our low desires. (Whom Allah guides) i.e., whom Allah guides to observe the acts of worship. (there is no one can mislead) i.e., no devil, soul, or anything else can mislead. (and whoever has been misled no one can guide) i.e., neither by reason or by the Shari`ah anything can guide him. The point here is that evil is attributed to souls in terms of action and the misleading is attributed to Allah (may He be Exalted) in terms of His Destiny and Fate. Actions reported in the Hadith were in the present tense and all of them were reported with the word "we" except his saying: "and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger." because the testimony of faith is not accepted except from its sayer only, so one cannot say it on behalf of someone else. As for help and forgiveness, they may be requested for oneself and for others, therefore they were reported by the word "we". (and fear Allah through whom you demand your mutual rights) i.e., you ask one another in the name of Allah to fulfill your need such as (for god's sake do such and such). (and the wombs) i.e., fear Allah in regard to kinship with whom you cut ties. The Hadith also contains a reference to the gravity of cutting the ties of kinship. (All-Watcher) i.e., keeper and protector. "O you who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared." Ibn Mas`ud and Ibn `Abbas said: He is to be obeyed and never be disobeyed and to be mentioned and never forgotten. The scholars of Tafsir said: When the previous Ayah was revealed, it was difficult for the Companions, so they said: O Messenger of Allah, who can stand this?

Thereupon, Allah (may He be Exalted) revealed: "So fear Allah as much as you can." to abrogate this Ayah. It was said that the Ayah was not abrogated because the second Ayah was just illustration to the first. "and die not except in a state of Islâm [as Muslims (with complete submission to Allâh)]." The apparent meaning is: The prohibition is for death, but actually the prohibition is for leaving Islam. Hence, the meaning is keep to Islam so as death will not hit you while you are not Muslims. (O you who believe, fear Allah) i.e., fear of disobeying Him and of His Punishment. (and speak (always) the truth) i.e., speak correctly, justly, the truth, and it was said: Say: "There is no god but Allah" i.e., always say that speech. (He will direct you to do righteous good deeds) i.e., accept your good deeds. (and forgive your sins) i.e., erase your evil deeds. (whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger) i.e., by compliance to His Commands and avoidance of His prohibitions. (he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and will be admitted to Paradise)) i.e., become victorious and gain a great fortune. (6)

(1) See: `Umdat Al Qary Sharh Sahih Al Bukhari 29/328, `Awn Al Ma`bud 6/110, Subul As-Salam 3/112, and Fathul-Bary 9/202.

(2) Surat Al `Imran: 102.

(3) Surat An-Nisa': 1.

(4) Surat of Al-Ahzab: 70.

(5) See: Ash-Sharh Al Kabir of Ad-Dardir 2/216, Al Majmu` Sharh Al Muhadhdhab 16/203, and Al Iqna` fi Fiqh Al Imam Ahmad 3/162.

(6) See: `Awn Al Ma`bud 6/109 Sharh Sunan Abu Dawud of `Abdul-Muhsin Al `Abbad 12/71.

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