Court marriage in Pakistan: the procedure, the rules and the documents

What a court marriage actually is

There is no separate kind of marriage called "court marriage" in the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance. The Ordinance deals with "Every marriage solemnized under Muslim Law", and says it must be registered.

People say "court marriage" when a couple marries by their own choice, often without their families, usually with a lawyer's help near the courts. The nikah itself is the marriage. A court does not marry you, and an affidavit alone does not make a marriage.

“Every marriage solemnized under Muslim Law shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.”

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 5, Registration of marriages

Is court marriage allowed? Can a woman marry without her father's consent?

Yes, for an adult. In Hafiz Abdul Waheed v. Mrs. Asma Jehangir the Supreme Court settled the question that had split the Lahore High Court. It held that "consent of `Wali' is not required and a sui juris Muslim female can enter into valid `Nikah'/marriage of her own free-will" (PLD 2004 SC 219, para 29). "Sui juris" means an adult who can make her own legal decisions.

Free consent is the heart of it. A marriage forced on either person is not a free-will marriage, whoever arranged it.

Court marriage procedure, step by step

• Step 1: Check you are both adults under the lawUnder the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, a male under eighteen or a female under sixteen is a "child", and a man over eighteen who marries a child can be punished (sections 2 and 4). Some provinces and Islamabad have passed their own laws on the marriage age; FAI's library holds only the 1929 Act, so check your province's law before the nikah.
• Step 2: If the man is already married, get written permission firstSection 6 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance says no man with an existing wife may marry again without the previous written permission of the Arbitration Council, and such a marriage cannot be registered without it.
• Step 3: Perform the nikah by your own free consentThe nikah can be performed by the Nikah Registrar or by another person who solemnizes it.
• Step 4: Register the nikahIf the Nikah Registrar did not perform the nikah, the person who performed it must report it to the Nikah Registrar for registration (section 5(3)). Not reporting it is an offence (section 5(4)).
• Step 5: Get a copy of the recordAnyone may inspect the record kept at the union council, or get a copy of an entry, on paying the prescribed fee (section 5(6)). Keep your copy of the nikah nama safe.

“Every marriage not solemnized by the Nikah Registrar shall, for the purpose of registration under this Ordinance, be reported to him by the person who has solemnized such marriage.”

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 5, Registration of marriages

“No man, during the subsistence of an existing marriage, shall, except with the previous permission in writing of the Arbitration Council, contract another marriage, nor shall any such marriage contracted without such permission be registered under this Ordinance.”

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 6, Polygamy

Documents, fees and how long it takes

The Ordinance does not list the documents or fix the fee. It leaves the form of the nikah nama, the registers, the manner of registration and the fees to be "prescribed" by rules (section 5(5)). Ask the Nikah Registrar or your union council which identity papers and witnesses they need, and what the current fee is, before the nikah.

How long it takes depends on that office. Be careful with anyone who promises a fixed fee or a same-day "court marriage certificate": the registered nikah nama is the record of your marriage.

If the family threatens or takes the woman away

Using force to take back a daughter who married by her own choice is a crime, and the courts treat it seriously. In Hilal Khattak v. The State, a father whose daughter had married a relative without his consent was accused of breaking into her husband's family home at dawn with armed men and dragging her out; her husband was shot dead. The Supreme Court refused him bail and directed the Islamabad police chief to see to her recovery (2023 SCMR 1182).

The Court also directed that, once found, she could be kept in Dar-ul-Aman for at least two days before her statement was recorded, "So that she may be in a position to make her statement voluntarily without the undue influence of anyone" (2023 SCMR 1182, para 13).

If you are threatened, go to the police and keep proof of your nikah and its registration with you.

What this does not mean

• An affidavit or a lawyer's certificate is not the marriage; the nikah and its registration are.
• This guide covers Muslim marriages. Christian, Hindu and other marriages have their own laws.
• It does not cover the marriage age laws of each province, which FAI's library does not yet hold; check those locally.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 5
  Registration of marriages Pakistan Code
• Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 6
  Polygamy Pakistan Code
• Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 · Section 2
  Definitions
• Hafiz Abdul Waheed v. Mrs. Asma Jehangir, PLD 2004 SC 219 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 19 December 2003)
  An adult (sui juris) Muslim woman can enter a valid nikah of her own free will; the wali's consent is not required.
• Hilal Khattak v. The State, 2023 SCMR 1182 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 24 May 2023)
  Father accused of taking his married daughter by force, in an attack in which her husband was killed, refused bail; police directed to recover her.

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