Matrimonial Service

Finding a suitable match is difficult, and it has become harder as communities have spread out and the older informal networks have weakened. Our matrimonial service helps members of the Manchester community meet with marriage in mind, in a manner consistent with Islamic values.

How It Works

We take details from those seeking a match, including what they are looking for and what matters to them, and make introductions where there appears to be a genuine fit. Families are involved as the individuals wish. Meetings take place appropriately and without pressure.

All information shared with us is treated confidentially and is not passed on without permission.

Who Can Use It

The service is open to practising Muslims seeking marriage, including those who have been married before. There is no obligation to proceed with any introduction.

To register or ask questions discreetly, contact us or call 07727 874307.

How the Introduction Works

We take some details, we talk to you about what you are actually looking for, and where there is a plausible match we make an introduction to the family. Meetings happen with family present, in a setting everyone is comfortable with.

Nothing is published, nothing is circulated, and no details are shared with anyone without your permission first.

What a Nikah Requires

The contract itself is short: an offer and acceptance in the same sitting, two witnesses, a specified mahr, and two people who both freely want it.

The mahr is a payment from the husband to the wife. It belongs to her, not to her family, and it must be specified in the contract rather than left vague to be settled later. A modest mahr that is actually handed over is worth more than a large figure both families know is theatre.

The Legal Point Couples Miss

A nikah on its own is generally not a legal marriage in England and Wales. A ceremony in a home, a community hall, or a mosque that is not registered for marriages does not create the legal rights that come with marriage — and couples usually discover this at the worst possible moment, years later.

The remedies are straightforward: marry in a mosque registered for marriages with an authorised person present, or have a civil ceremony at a register office alongside the nikah. Many Manchester couples do the civil registration quietly a few days before, and treat the nikah as the occasion the family attends.

We are not solicitors and this is not legal advice, but we will always raise it, because the people it harms are almost always the wife and the children.

On Consent

A marriage requires the free consent of both parties. Pressure applied through emotional obligation, through threats to withdraw family contact, or through travel arranged without a person’s knowledge is not permissible religiously, and may not be lawful either.

If you are being pushed towards a marriage you do not want, speak to us. That conversation is confidential and it does not commit you to anything.

Choosing Well

The best-known guidance names four things people marry for — wealth, lineage, beauty and religion — and tells you to prioritise the last. In practice, the questions worth asking are unglamorous: how do they treat their parents, how do they behave when something goes wrong, what do they expect day to day, and do they pray when nobody is watching.

Read more in our article on Marriage in Islam: The Nikah, the Mahr and Choosing Well.