Solemnizing the union
§ THE intersection of US and Islamic law becomes important right at the formation of the family unit — the creation of the marriage itself. Each state of the USA requires a civil marriage licence for every marriage created within its borders.
Details on the specific requirements for these licences vary from state to state, but generally they require an official signature of the person performing the wedding, qualified by the state to do so, and those of witnesses to the ceremony. Islamic wedding requirements, consisting of an offer and acceptance and witnesses to the event, do not conflict with this if the person officiating the wedding is registered with the state as having this authority. In the United States, many Muslim leaders and lay individuals have this state authority, thus making the Muslim ceremony over which they preside simultaneously legal under the laws of the state, provided all necessary forms are filed. However, because not all Muslim marriage officiants carry such qualifications, Muslim weddings in the USA take a variety of forms. Many conduct one Muslim ceremony with a state-qualified imam, but many others have two events: a Muslim ceremony as well as a civil ceremony through state channels.23 Still others have only a Muslim ceremony and never bother with state registration requirements,24 a risky practice under US law because, barring a finding of common law or putative marriage, the parties and their children have no state-enforceable legal rights upon each other, thus affecting inheritance, health insurance, taxes and even immigration issues.
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