Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 189
At the time of nikāḥ, is it permissible to deliver the sermon (khuṭbat an-nikāḥ) after the offer (ījāb) and acceptance (qabūl), or must the sermon be delivered before?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā baʿd:
Hādhā mā ʿindī, wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb.
Question
At the time of nikāḥ, is it permissible to deliver the sermon (khuṭbat an-nikāḥ) after the offer (ījāb) and acceptance (qabūl), or must the sermon be delivered before?
Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā baʿd:
- The narrations regarding delivering the nikāḥ sermon are recorded in:
◈ Sunan Abī Dāwūd (Ḥadīth 2118)
◈ Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī (Ḥadīth 1105)
◈ Sunan al-Nasāʾī (Ḥadīth 3279)
◈ Sunan Ibn Mājah (Ḥadīth 1892)
◈ Musnad Aḥmad (Vol. 1, pp. 392–393)
◈ al-Dārimī (Ḥadīth 2208)
◈ and other ḥadīth compilations. - All these specific chains are weak (ḍaʿīf).
- In al-Dārimī’s narration, it is stated:
"ثم يتكلم بحاجته" – “Then he should speak about his need.”
(Also in Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 1, pp. 392–393, Ḥadīth 3720)
This chain contains inqiṭāʿ (disconnection), making it weak. - However, based on other general evidences and the ḥadīth in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (Ḥadīth 867), it is better to perform the ījāb and qabūl after the sermon.
Hādhā mā ʿindī, wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb.
