Written by Dr. Saad
Before talking about customary marriage,marriage is the association of two male and female lives according to the Sunnah of God and the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, in the presence of two witnesses, and the consent of the wife’s guardian, and
this marriage document is recorded in government departments and institutions in any country and documentation This relationship and publicity, and thus the wife obtains all of her rights from this marriage, and what has spread in the last period between young men is customary marriage, and they marry each other with witnesses from their peers or even without witnesses and the guardian does not consent, but without his knowledge Basically, the marriage contract is written on paper without documentation, certification, and authority Its most important characteristic is that it remains a secret.
So customary marriage is a marriage that occurs in the presence of witnesses or without witnesses, and it may be in the presence of the guardian or others, the most important characteristic of customary marriage is that it is not written in an official document and is not performed by the authorized person. Rather, it is performed by the man and the woman without a legal contract, and this marriage is not obligatory for the wife, and she does not have any legal rights from her husband, and it is by secret, and thus marriage is void because the most important conditions for a good marriage are publicity.
There are two types of customary marriage: the first type: this marriage takes place with the consent of the wife and her guardian, and with the presence of competent witnesses and is announced between people, this marriage is considered valid due to the availability of all its elements and conditions and is still taking place in some countries such as Sudan, but it is not recorded in Official documents with the relevant state authorities. The second type is invalid and it is the customary marriage that is without the approval or presence of the wife’s guardian and without the presence of a document but rather a white paper and sometimes without paper and it is completely void and not valid because it lacks publicity and approval of the guardian. It was said in some schools of thought that a woman who marries herself in this manner is immoral and her, and in this case the husband has punishment in all schools.
