# Is a secret nikah allowed?

*Secret nikah versus low-commitment marriage*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/kwmtt2tqao0/s/33/
- Date: 2020-08-24 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #179 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (2:22:34–2:26:25)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmtt2TQAO0&t=8554s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/kwmtt2tqao0/

**Topics:** The marriage contract; Polygamy and mut'ah; Marriage

**Question as asked:** What about secret nikah?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** A secret nikah that deceives the woman is exploitation he condemns, but a low-commitment marriage both adults openly agree to is, he says, permissible.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that a low-commitment marriage that both adults understand and are comfortable with is, he would feel, permissible.

**Evidence, his words at 2:25:08:** “so i i don't see that like the first one which is more ice i see as exploitation so that i'm against but this i would feel is permissible” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmtt2TQAO0&t=8708s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth takes a question on secret nikah. He says he does not advocate secret nikah if it means a marriage where only one or two people know and the woman is told to keep quiet in the belief it will become a normal relationship, which seldom materialises; he calls that highly deceptive and exploitative and condemns it. If it means a low-commitment marriage that both adults understand and agree to, he would not call it secret and says it is nobody's business and permissible. He adds that he does not think temporary marriage is haram, that he finds it highly politicised, and that he will go into it once he finishes a book by Ibn Azraq [?].

## Sources and names cited

- nikah
- mut'ah
- Ibn Azraq [?]

## Transcript (machine tier, 2:22:34–2:26:25)

[2:21:55] can you imagine as soon as the the music as soon as the class starts and everybody stands up he's like taking off all his clothes and he's standing there [Laughter] teachers like all right guys ten seconds we're going to all play the sacks and then they turn around and he's everybody's there with the saxophone and he's dead naked i thought we said we're gonna play the sax is this this is wrong this is the wrong class i come to

[2:22:33] the the wrong class or the the right class is that a toy are we going to be using this toy [Laughter] right so i tell you now i know i don't think i can handle this toy right so yeah so what's the question on uh secret knickers hmm

[2:23:10] well you see rather than that what i i don't advocate the secret kind of nikah thing but what i would say is i do advocate the permissibility of temporary or what i suppose if that's what people mean but there's a difference you see with i don't know exactly what people mean when they say secret because i could be picturing something else so i don't advocate the whole um you know the kind of uh you see there's things where people

[2:23:48] will this there's certain kind of nickas that they will be like okay look here only this one person knows and this other one is on a video phone and to the woman don't tell anyone and then and then the woman kind of is in that relationship with the impression that this is going to become a normal relationship but then it seldom ever materializes and i feel that that's highly deceptive so if that's what they mean by i don't i mean i i would condemn that kind of stuff if that's what they mean by secret

[2:24:28] nikkei if they mean by a kind of low commitment knicker then i wouldn't really call it a secret knicker i would call it like whatever like to me that's just between two adults whatever they they both are comfortable with it's nobody's business what they're comfortable with so if they said look you know this is what it is we'll just be like this we're gonna it's a it's a it's an off peak time term time only kind of like relationship whatever it's their business if that's what they want then that's you know nobody has a say in that

[2:25:08] if they both are the understanding that look here we're just you know we've got this we're not really going on about it it's just something for convenience for them it's up to them somebody might say oh that's disgusting well that's like but it's look if they if it's between them two then that is perfectly fine and it's up to them so i i don't see that like the first one which is more ice i see as exploitation so that i'm against but this i would feel is permissible um in addition to things like temporary

[2:25:45] uh what is called i do i do feel that that's not haram and i will at some point go into much depth once i finalize ibn azraq's book but it isn't in my from what i've understood it's not haram i think it's highly politicized yeah you know speaking about politicized i've been reading up a bit more but i won't do a full analysis here but i'll just give you a little preview i've been reading up more on this whole hadith al-ikh this hadith of the great lie

[2:26:24] sorry not the hadith the incident of the if and the more i'm reading into it i what i feel that you see because what i found is these different narratives i definitely am inclined to the understanding that the if in the quran that is being mentioned damn that's my throat going again

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment KWmtt2TQAO0/s/33. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/kwmtt2tqao0/s/33/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.