Women's Appointment as Marriage Notaries in Sharia, Custom, and Law

Fathi, Alaa

doi:10.21608/zjac.2025.372200.1203

Women's Appointment as Marriage Notaries in Sharia, Custom, and Law

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Alaa Fathi

Department of Fiqh, Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies for Boys, Al-Azhar University, Qena, Egypt.

10.21608/zjac.2025.372200.1203

Abstract

Women's Appointment as Marriage Notaries in Sharia, Custom, and Law

Alaa Fathi Mohamed Hussein
Department of Fiqh, Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies for Boys, Al-Azhar University, Qena, Egypt.
Email: AlaaHussin.4119@azhar.edu.eg
Abstract:
This research explores a crucial issue related to women's roles in society. It examines the concept of a marriage notary and some related terms, the conditions required for this position, the history of the emergence of such job, and the relationship between notaries and judges. The study also discusses challenges facing notaries and the Islamic rulings related to women as notaries, including interactions with men, outdoors Sharia dress code for women, and the ruling of women’s entrance to the mosque during menstruation or postpartum to contract marriages. The research reveals the Sharia and legal ruling on women's appointment as notaries, potential penalties for notaries’ violations of legal or sharia systems. In writing this research, I followed the inductive method by surveying the existing literature on the subject; the descriptive-analytical method by analyzing the essential components, describing the juristic opinions and their evidence; and the comparative method by comparing the study's findings with the provisions found in Islamic legal texts.The study concludes with a final section, followed by several findings. First, in the past, marriage was conducted through offer and acceptance (ijab and qabul), in the presence of a guardian (waliy) and witnesses, this was the regular form of an authentic marriage contract—until the Fatimid era, when this task began to be carried out by judges. Moreover, the study highlights the importance of the role of the marriage notary in safeguarding the family and protecting the rights of both spouses by documenting the marriage contract, which ensures those rights.

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References

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