nikah vs state license

fchan1

my fiance will not be interacting with the muslim community (as neither do i) but my family is requiring a muslim ceremony in addition to our civil/american ceremony. the nikah will take place before the american ceremony, but we prefer to celebrate our state legal, actual wedding anniversary on the date of our american wedding as it holds special meaning to our relationship. do i need to have the actual state marriage license in addition to the nikah contract? can we do the nikah first (for example, a month prior) and then have the JoP sign the actual marriage license and file with the state?

kpwedkk

You might want to check the laws with your state first. 

When you sign the marriage certificate either at the nikah or at the American wedding, you have to have a JoP or a licensed priest to file.

lyounan

When I had my nikkah, it took a while to find a sheikh that DIDNT require us to have a marriage license with the state ahead of time. We're doing one thing at a time so we didn't want to have to rush when he happened to be in town visiting. You might need to do that ahead of the nikkah if there are not an abundance of sheukh like there are in my community, fortunately. Al Hamdulilah.

But just to let you know, Islamically, it's not really correct to celebrate your wedding anniversary in a way that is overly dramatic. The only holidays that we have are Eid Al Fitr after Ramadhan and Eid al AdhHa after Hajj. it isn't proper to celebrate birthdays, and especially not proper to celebrate holidays that they do in this country (ie. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc; either because they are associated with other religions or just for the simple fact that we have our holidays already and any addition or subtraction from the religion is a way to change what has been revealed to us). Doesn't mean you can't cook him his favourite dinner or whatever you like, but we should strive to act that way with our spouses on a regular basis, not one day of the year because it's a birthday or anniversary.

May ALLAH (Swt) Bless your marriage and Provide for you both many easy days full of love and mercy. Ameen

shawwal6

Most masjids/sheikhs/islamic centers require that you already have your license and then they file it for you with the state.  I take it you are doing an aqd an nikaah just to show your parents? 

The last part of your question actually is the way it is done.  You get your license from the state, take it to the Islamic Center/Masjid, they perform the Nikaah and then file the papers for you.  So, really everything will be registered as the same date.