Who should proclaim the agreement of the bride on the occasion of her nikah?

Huzoor^aa was asked whether a bride could proclaim her agreement herself on the occasion of her nikah…

Huzoor^aa, in his letter dated 22 July 2019, gave the following answer.

“In the Holy Quran, where Allah the Exalted has commanded Muslim men to marry believing women and Muslim women to marry believing men, He has used different words for both men and women. Hence, addressing the men, He states:

وَ‭ ‬لَا‭ ‬تَنۡكِحُوا‭ ‬الۡمُشۡرِكٰتِ

‘And marry not idolatrous women.’ [Surah al-Baqarah, Ch. 2, V. 222]

“And, addressing the women, He states:

وَ‭ ‬لَا‭ ‬تُنۡكِحُوا‭ ‬الۡمُشۡرِكِيۡنَ

‘And give not [believing women] in marriage to idolaters.’ [Ibid]

“In other words, in this verse, Allah the Exalted has placed the responsibility of arranging the nikah of the women on their guardians [wali]. That is why on the occasion of the announcement of nikah, the wali responds on behalf of the girl. The Promised Messiah^as draws our attention to this matter and says:

‘A woman is not permitted to annul the nikah directly, just as she is not permitted to arrange the nikah directly. She can have her marriage annulled through the ruler of the time and she can get married through a wali.’ (Arya Dharam, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 10, p. 37)

“Thus, a wali would fulfil the responsibility of responding on behalf of the girl on the occasion of the announcement of nikah and that is the tradition of the Jamaat. 

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