Civil & Islamic Marriage in Sydney

1. One calendar month notice
According to the government regulations, person’s intending on getting married must file a notice of intended marriage with an authorized celebrant. I supply you with the notice form and I can also advise you on how you may have this time shortened.

2. Identification
A birth certificate if you were born in Australia. If you were born overseas, then either a birth certificate or passport is acceptable.

If you do not have the acceptable identification, I will write up a statutory declaration which I am authorized to sign. This will replace the identification documents.

3. Two Witnesses
For each of the Civil and Islamic contracts, two witnesses are required. If you are going to select only two witnesses for this type of ceremony, then you must ensure they are two Muslim males over 18 years of age. If however you would like to include witnesses that are non-Muslim, and that may be a male or female, this is acceptable for the civil marriage part. You must also select another two witnesses who are Muslim males over the age of puberty for the Islamic contract. This means that you may have up to four witnesses for this type of ceremony.

4. A Wali
In accordance with the authentic teachings of Islam, it is not permissible for a woman to independently give herself in marriage. The person who should represent her is her guardian, referred to in Arabic as her wali.

It is not permissible for a woman to appoint her own wali. Normally, a woman’s wali is her father. If for any Islamically acceptable reason, her father is unable to be her wali, then her next closest ‘Muslim’, ‘male’ ‘paternal relative’ according to the following order:

• Father
• Father’s authorized representative (wakeel)
• Paternal grandfather
• Her son above the age of puberty (if she a widow or divorcee)
• Her brother (Full brother, then half brother, then step
  brother)
• Brother’s son
• Paternal Uncle
• Paternal Uncle’s son
• If none of the above ‘Muslims’ are present (especially in the case of converts to Islam) then the
• Imam or sheikh. In these cases it is usually myself.

Please note: A female cannot be a Wali.