Question Summary:
Nikah through text message

Question Detail:

A nikah on text messages is valid or not if:1) there are witnesses?2) there are no witnesses?Also after doing text nikkah, informing it to a friend on text message or by speaking face to face, does it count in witness and hence does it make the nikah valid?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Sister in Islam,
For every deed in the Shariah, there is an inner and outer dimension. Both are important and complement one another. As such, the institution of nikah also has these dimensions. The conditions of proposal, acceptance, witnesses, etc. make up the outer dimension of nikah. If these conditions are fulfilled, the nikah will be valid. However, the mere observance of these conditions does not necessarily mean that the objectives and underlying benefits of nikah will be reaped. In other words, there are also other aspects of nikah which should be considered and observed before proceeding with the actual institution. For example, the khutbah (sermon), the acceptance and pleasure of both the families, etc.
Marriage through text messages trivializes the sacred institution of nikah. It also bears the potential of abuse, and reducing nikah to a mere technical issue.
Nevertheless, nikah by text message is valid if the man or woman sends a proposal (for example, I marry you) and the other reads the message audibly and accepts it (audibly) in the presence of at least two male witnesses or one male witness and two female witnesses.[1] If the message is not read audibly, or the acceptance is not audible, the nikah will not be valid. Similarly, the physical presence of the witnesses at the time of acceptance is a must (in this particular situation). 
Informing a friend by text or in person after sending a proposal by text is not sufficient.
In any case, marriage through text messaging, etc. is improper and against the importance nikah deserves.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hisham Dawood
Student Darul Iftaa
Chicago, USA 
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.