Nikah glossary — Muslim marriage terms explained

How to use this glossary

The terms people most often confuse

• Wali and mahram. A wali is a role in the marriage contract, held by an eligible male relative or the Muslim authority. A mahram is a category of relative you may never marry. Your brother may be both; your uncle by marriage may be neither.
• Nikah and khitbah. The nikah is the marriage. Khitbah is the engagement — a promise, with none of the marriage's permissibility attached.
• Mahr and dowry. Mahr is paid by the husband to the wife and is hers. A dowry, in the sense used in some cultures, flows from the bride's family to the groom's — that is a cultural practice with no basis in the Shariah, and it is the opposite direction of travel.
• Talaq and a UK divorce. Talaq ends the Islamic marriage. A UK divorce ends a legally registered marriage. Neither one accomplishes the other, and a couple with a registered marriage needs both.

Terms that are culture, not religion

Nikah and marriage terms, A–Z

Nikah

also written nikkah, nikaah

The Islamic marriage contract, and by extension the ceremony at which it is made. It requires a clear offer and acceptance in the same sitting, genuine consent from both parties, an agreed mahr, and witnesses — with the bride's wali involved according to the majority of scholars. Read the full guide

Nikah nama

also written nikahnama, nikah namah

The written document recording an Islamic marriage: the parties, the date, the mahr, the wali, the witnesses and any agreed conditions. It is evidence of the contract rather than the contract itself. Read the full guide

Ijab and qabul

The offer and the acceptance. The ijab is the proposal made in the contract, the qabul is its acceptance, and both must be clear, unconditional and made in the same sitting. This is the moment the marriage comes into being.

Mahr

also written mehr, meher, sadaq, dower

The payment — money, property or an item of value — that the husband gives the wife as part of the marriage contract, referenced in the Qur'an at 4:4. It is her property alone, not her family's. It may be paid immediately (mu'ajjal) or deferred (mu'akhkhar), and the amount and timing should be recorded in the nikah nama. Read the full guide

Wali

also written walee, guardian

The bride's guardian, ordinarily her father or the next eligible male relative, who contracts the marriage on her behalf. Three of the four Sunni schools treat the wali as a condition of validity; the Hanafi school does not. Where there is no eligible relative, the Muslim authority — in practice a local imam — acts as wali. Read the full guide

Mahram

A relative a person may never marry, and in whose presence the rules on modesty and seclusion are relaxed — parents, siblings, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and certain in-laws. Often confused with wali: a mahram is a category of relative, a wali is a role in the marriage contract.

Khitbah

also written khutbah al-nikah proposal, engagement

The formal proposal of marriage and the engagement period that follows. It is a promise to marry, not a marriage — the couple remain non-mahram, so khalwa and physical contact are not permitted, and either party may withdraw. Read the full guide

Khalwa

Being alone in private with a non-mahram of the opposite sex, in circumstances where no one else can enter. It is not permitted, and engagement does not change that — the prohibition attaches to the situation rather than to anyone's intention.

Khutbat al-hajah

also written nikah khutbah

The short sermon that opens most nikah ceremonies: praise of Allah, the testimony of faith, and three Qur'anic verses — Aal-Imran 3:102, an-Nisa 4:1 and al-Ahzab 33:70–71. It is established practice rather than a condition of validity. Read the full guide

Walima

also written waleema, valima

The marriage feast, held to announce the marriage publicly. A strongly established Sunnah — most scholars hold it recommended, some obligatory — with no prescribed size, venue or menu. Read the full guide

Istikhara

also written salat al-istikhara

The prayer for guidance, made when choosing between defined options such as whether to accept a particular proposal. It is not a request for a dream or a sign, and it is not a du'a to summon a spouse. Read the full guide

Talaq

also written talak, divorce

Divorce initiated by the husband. The Qur'anic framework is deliberately gradual, with revocable pronouncements and a waiting period so that a decision made in anger can be reversed. The schools differ significantly on the effect of three pronouncements in a single sitting. Read the full guide

Khula

also written khul', khulah

Divorce initiated by the wife, in which she asks to be released and typically returns the mahr or an agreed part of it, on the basis of Surah al-Baqarah 2:229. She does not need to prove wrongdoing by her husband. Read the full guide

Faskh

also written tafriq, annulment

Judicial dissolution of a marriage by a qualified authority, used where a husband refuses both talaq and khula. Recognised grounds include harm, desertion, failure to maintain and prolonged absence. In Britain, Shariah councils handle these applications. Read the full guide

Iddah

also written iddat

The waiting period after a marriage ends, during which a woman does not remarry. Normally three menstrual cycles after divorce (Qur'an 2:228), four months and ten days for a widow (2:234), or until birth where she is pregnant (65:4). Read the full guide

Talaq-e-tafweed

also written tafwid, isma, delegated divorce

A delegated right of divorce, by which the husband grants the wife the power to initiate divorce herself. It can be stipulated in the marriage contract and is a long-established mechanism rather than a modern innovation. Read the full guide

Kafa'ah

also written suitability

Compatibility or suitability between prospective spouses, discussed by the classical jurists in terms of religion, character and capacity. It is not a doctrine of caste or biraderi, and cultural notions of social rank are not what the term refers to.

Bulugh and rushd

also written baligh

Physical maturity (bulugh) and sound judgement (rushd) — the two classical conditions of legal capacity, including capacity to marry. Islamic law works from these rather than from a fixed age; in the UK the statutory minimum age for marriage is 18. Read the full guide

Ahl al-Kitab

also written People of the Book

Jews and Christians. A Muslim man may marry a chaste woman from among them under Surah al-Ma'idah 5:5, subject to significant scholarly qualification; a Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man. Read the full guide

Biraderi

also written baradari

An extended kinship or clan network, particularly in South Asian Muslim communities, which often shapes who families consider suitable. It is a social structure, not an Islamic category, and biraderi is not a valid ground for a wali to refuse a suitable proposal.

Rishta

In South Asian usage, a marriage proposal or match, and by extension the whole process of families proposing and considering. A 'rishta biodata' is the one-page profile circulated between families. Read the full guide

Mut'ah

A temporary marriage contracted for a fixed period. It is prohibited in Sunni Islam, which regards it as abrogated; it is permitted under certain conditions in Twelver Shia jurisprudence. Anyone being offered a temporary arrangement in a Sunni context should treat that as a serious warning sign. Read the full guide

Nafaqah

also written maintenance

The husband's obligation to financially maintain his wife and children — housing, food, clothing and necessities — regardless of the wife's own income or wealth. Persistent failure to maintain is a recognised ground for judicial dissolution.

Nushuz

Marital discord or a serious breach of obligations by either spouse. It is the situation Surah an-Nisa 4:34–35 addresses, including the instruction to appoint an arbiter from each family where a breach is feared. Read the full guide