Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

if one marraige was a "love maaraige" and they didnt have the praises from either family members and they got married without the bride`s family permission, is that a sin, also they also didnt have a walima, only a islamic wedding, and their wedding night was on shubed kodar night, where they only prayed late at night, was that a sin? they had sex on that night instead of praying all night. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Marriage on the night of Lailatul Qadr?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your question: if one marraige was a "love maaraige" and they didnt have the praises from either family members and they got married without the bride`s family permission, is that a sin?

It all depends on the reason for the parent’s not giving their blessings to the marriage of their children. If they had a valid reason in Shariah for refusing the marriage, then indeed it would be a sin on the children. But if their reason for not blessing their children’s marriage was for petty reasons like color, caste, status, nationality, wealth, etc., then there is no sin.

Your question: also they also didnt have a walima, only a islamic wedding,

The Walima or marriage feast is not an obligatory act of marriage, but rather it is a Sunnah, and does not effect the validity of the marriage. If one follows the Sunnah and does the Walima, he would receive a huge reward from Allah Subhanah. There is no sin if, for a valid reason, one does not have a Walima after marriage; the most that can be said is they missed the chance to earn a huge reward from Allah Subhanah.

But if one does not have the Walima, because he refuses to accept or believe in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), or thinks it is an unnecessary expense, or thinks it is a waste of time, etc.; then it would definitely be a sin.

Your question: and their wedding night was on shubed kodar night, where they only prayed late at night, was that a sin?

Firstly, the Messenger of Allah (saws) did not declare and fix a particular night as ‘Shabe-Qadr’ or ‘Laylatul Qadr’; he (saws) guided the believers to search for the night amongst the odd nights of the last tens days of Ramadan. Thus, there is absolutely no way to be sure that the night of your marriage was indeed ‘Shabe-Qadr.’

Secondly, there is absolutely no harm if one chooses to marry on the night of ‘Shabe-Qadr’ or any other night of the year. Thus, even if the night of your marriage was indeed the ‘Shabe-Qadr’ in the sight of Allah, there is absolutely no harm and no sin.

Apart from the obligatory prayers, there is no sin if one does not pray the voluntary prayers on the blessed Night of Power. If one wishes to pray all night, he may do so; and if one wishes to pray only part of the night, he may do so. The more one worships Allah Subhanah on that blessed night, the bigger will be his reward. Even if one did not pray any voluntary (nafl) prayers at all on the ‘Shabe-Qadr’, there is no sin; the most that can be said is that they missed the opportunity to worship their Lord on this blessed night and earn a huge reward from Allah Subhanah.

Your question: they had sex on that night instead of praying all night. 

There is absolutely no harm and no sin if they had sex all night, even if the night happened to be ‘Laylatul Qadr’! In fact, whenever a husband and wife have sex in marriage, it will be considered a source for earning reward from Allah Subhanah.

Narrated Hadrat Abu Dharr al Ghaffari (r.a.) that some companions asked the Prophet (saws): "O Messenger of Allah (saws) is there a reward if one satisfies his passion?" He (saws) replied: "Do you know that if he satisfies it unlawfully, he has taken a sin upon himself? Likewise, if he satisfies it lawfully, he is rewarded." (Related by Muslim.)

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan