❖ Question:
Does a marriage contract become valid if ijāb and qubūl (offer and acceptance) are made in jest?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
✿ Answer:
Yes, a marriage contract does become valid even if ijāb and qubūl are made jokingly.
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ثلاث جدهن جد وهزلهن جد النكاح والطلاق والرجعة
“Three matters are serious in their seriousness, and serious in their jest:
① Marriage (nikāḥ)
② Divorce (ṭalāq)
③ Taking back (after ṭalāq)”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2194; Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1225; Sunan Ibn Mājah: 2039; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī: 2/58; Sunan al-Dāraqutnī: 3/256 – sanad ḥasan)
Imām al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله graded it ḥasan gharīb, Imām Ibn Jarūd رحمه الله (ḥadīth 712) declared it ṣaḥīḥ, and Imām al-Ḥākim رحمه الله (ḥadīth 1922) authenticated its chain.
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله also graded it ḥasan.
(al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 3/210)
Conclusion:
If ijāb and qubūl for nikāḥ are uttered — whether seriously or in jest — the marriage is legally valid in Sharīʿah.
