Question:
My Nikah was conducted with Ijab & Qubool like this I want to do Nikah with you do you accept? The bride replied – I accept. Somewhere, I read that the past tense is necessary for Nikah. So, is my Nikah invalid according to Hanafi Madhab?
Please help I am in distress.
Answer:
As Salaamu Alaikum,
For the soundness and validity of a Nikah, it is essential that Ijab (offer) and Qubool (acceptance) be uttered/expressed by both parties (of the marriage) in front of two male Muslim adult witnesses or one male and two females. The Mahr (dowry) must also be fixed and accepted by the bride. If it was not fixed/stipulated at the time of marriage, then this can be done after the marriage.
If witnesses (as mentioned above) did not witness the Ijab and Qubool or were not present at the time these were uttered, then the Nikah will not be valid.
With respect to the statements for Ijab and Qubool (offer and acceptance), these must be uttered/expressed using the past tense verbs, or one statement  can be in the past tense and the other in the imperative tense. The reason for this, as mentioned by the Fuqaha (jurists), is that the statement (the tense of the verb) which is used must indicate that the Nikah has immediately occurred officially.
If one uses the present tense, then it will be allowed for the validity of the marriage, as long as it expresses an action which is being done at that very moment. For example, if a man says to a woman, ‘I am marrying you’ or ‘I marry you’ and the woman says, ‘I accept’, then the marriage will be valid, since both these statements indicate to an action which has been done on the spot/immediately and has been concluded. (Qamoos Al Fiqh vol.5 pg. 226 ZamZam publishers Karachi)
With respect to the statements you have mentioned (in your query) that were used by yourself and the bride, these do not bring about a valid marriage. The reason is that the statement which you have uttered, expresses a desire to be married in the future. When you said to the bride, ‘I want to do Nikah with you’, it simply meant that you wish to marry her and have a desire to marry her. It does not say that you are marrying her at that moment or you have accepted her as your wife. This statement speaks of an action which you want to do in the future. It does not indicate to  an action done in the past or at present.
After expressing your desire to marry her, you asked, ‘Do you accept’, and she said, ‘I accept’. This statement of hers is in the present tense and yours is in the future tense. Both put together does not bring about a sound Nikah. Besides this, if you analyze her statement, it shows that she is expressing her acceptance to what you have asked. In your statement, you said, ‘I want to do Nikah with you, do you accept?’ Upon this, she said, ‘I accept’. The meaning of her statement is, ‘I accept to do Nikah with you’, and not ‘I accept you as my husband’ or ‘I accept you in marriage’. So, your statement really expresses an ‘intention’ to marry and not that you are actually marrying her at that moment. You said, ‘I want to do Nikah’, and not ‘I am doing Nikah with you’ or ‘I have done Nikah with you’. When an intention is expressed in this manner where you have stated, ‘I want to’, it conveys the meaning of something to be done in the future, and not in the past or at present. With this understanding, the bride’s statement of ‘I accept’ means that she accepts your intention of wanting to do Nikah with her, and she also consents to do Nikah with you, but it has not been done as yet. It is only an intention expressed by both of you to marry each other.
Therefore, with these both statements which you have mentioned as being Ijab and Qubool, the Nikah will not be valid.
(Raddul Mukhtar vol. 4 pg. 78, 79 Qadeemi Karachi; Bada’i As Sana’i vol. 4 pg. 488 Maktaba Rasheediya Queta; Kitabul Fatawa vol.4 pgs. 301, 302 ZamZam publishers Karachi 2008; Fatawa Haqaniya vol.4 pg. 320 Jamia Darul Uloom Haqaniya Nawshera Pakistan 2002).
And Allah Knows Best
Mufti Waseem Khan
14/10/2022