Making Allah, the Messenger and the Angels Witnesses to a Nikah

Question

In “al-Fatawa al-‘Alamgiriyya” (vol. 2, p. 843) it says that if someone, at a nikah, made Allah and the Messenger witnesses, saying: “I have made Allah, the Messenger and the angels witnesses,” he will become a kafir; and if he said: “I have made the angels of the right and left hand witnesses,” he will not become a kafir. What is the difference between the two?

Answer

The text of “al-Fatawa al-‘Alamgiriyya” that is asked about is this: [ar]رجل تزوج امرأة ولم يحضر الشهود وقال: خدا اور رسول را گواه كردم، وفرشته دست وچپ را گواه كردم، لا يكفر. كذا في الفصول العمادية[/ar] “A man married a woman, and the witnesses were not present, and he said: ‘I have made Allah and the Messenger witnesses,’ and: ‘I have made the angel of the hand (?)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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