If the Husband Goes Missing, What Is the Ruling on a Nikah upon a Nikah?

Question

A woman whose husband left home a year ago, and of whom nothing is known — whether he has died or is alive — called the village imam and Qur’an teacher, who performs nikahs, and had herself married to someone else. Apart from the woman herself, who told the imam that her husband had died, no one of the neighbourhood said anything; nor is the woman’s conduct proper. In the morning the people of the neighbourhood learned that this woman had married. The imam was called and asked: “How did you perform the nikah?

Answer

If the imam did not know that her husband was alive and performed the nikah trusting the woman’s word, then this has caused no harm to his imamate, nor has his own nikah been broken. And if the man with whom the nikah was concluded also did not know, and married her trusting the woman’s word, there will be no sin.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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