Question Summary:
salam, i am a woman in my 40s living in canada. when a childhood friend of mine from pakistan found out that i had been divorced, he told me that he loved me and that he would care for me. he is already married with grown children in pakistan,

Question Detail:

salam, i am a woman in my 40s living in canada. when a childhood friend of mine from pakistan found out that i had been divorced, he told me that he loved me and that he would care for me. he is already married with grown children in pakistan, and has not told his wife of this matter at all. he asked me to marry him over the phone. i told him that i wanted there to be witnesses for the nikka, which we planned to do over the phone. he said he would take care of the getting an imam to conduct the nikka and get the witnesses. i received a call one morning, while i was alone in a car driving to work, when i picked up, it was an imam from pakistan asking me if i wanted to marry the man. i said yes, i accept his proposal. i never heard from the witnesses on his side of the call, nor i do i know who they were. the imam announced that the nikka had been done. i asked him to tell me who the witnesses were and to send me the nikka certificate/papers. he promised he would. now he is refusing to tell his wife of the nikka and refusing to tell me the names of any of the witnesses or even let me speak to them, he is also refusing to let me see the certificate from the imam of the nikka. i am afraid that the nikka has not been conducted. the man is acting very strangely now, as i have told him i have doubts about the procedure and validity of the nikka. Please tell me if this nikka is valid, since i did not have any witnesses on my side and i do not know of any witnesses on his side. he says he has spoken to his "molvi saab" and that the nikka is valid, but this does not seem right to me. please advise me, the situation is getting desperate. jazak-Allah for your efforts.

Answer :

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In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh
 
Nikāh performed over the phone is not valid. It is a requirement for the validity of the nikāh that, witnesses be present who witness both, the proposal and acceptance of nikāh. Hence, if a person wants to marry someone who is not present or at a different place, the only alternative will be to contract the nikāh via a proxy (representative).
 In this case, a boy will appoint a representative/agent (wakīl) in Pakistan who will on his behalf, make the offer to the girl’s party in the presence of two witnesses. The girl or her representative will accept (i.e. make qabūl) of this proposal in the presence of two witnesses and in this manner, the nikāh will be concluded.
 
(Contemporary Fatawa p.132, Mufti Taqi Usmani)
And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best
Wassalāmu ῾alaykum 
 
Ml. Abdur Rahman Shareef,
Student Dārul Iftā
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā, Madrasah In῾āmiyyah