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LUCKNOW - An influential and conservative Islamic theological school in India said marriages of Muslim couples using Internet web cameras were acceptable and legal.
The decision was taken by the "fatwa" (decree) department of Darul Uloom Deoband in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and came after two rare cases of Muslims marrying through the Internet in Lucknow, the state capital, since 2005.
One case was brought to the Deoband school for approval.
"The Internet assumes the role of a lawyer in such cases and is, therefore, competent to formally supervise the "Ijaab" (offer of marriage) and "Qabool" (acceptance) made by the bride and bridegroom," top Deoband cleric Khalid Safiullah Rehmani said.
"The concept was widely discussed and debated over the past two years since the first online nikah took place in Lucknow in 2005.
"Nikah is a legal Islamic marriage contract. Muslim marriages should have a "vakil" or lawyer who deals with the marriage contract.
Rehmani said both the bride and bridegroom in an Internet marriage - like regular Muslim marriages - must have two witnesses under Islamic law.
In the 2005 marriage, 26-year-old Shabnam sat before a web camera in Lucknow and told her groom Abdul Kalam sitting in Mecca "Qabool hai" (I accept) three times as stipulated in Islamic law, her brother Hazrat Ali said.
At least 40 of her relatives crowded the Internet cafe owned by a Hindu to witness the wedding, followed by a small celebration and a feast at home.
In Mecca, Kalam had friends to witness the online marriage.
"The marriage was arranged by us, and my sister and Kalam had never met before," said Ali.
The other online marriage was solemnised at the office of a local body of Muslim clerics in Lucknow.
The Deoband school, which has a powerful influence among Muslims in South Asia, is known for its hard-line views on gender issues. Earlier this month, it issued a decree saying Muslim girls should not go to co-educational schools and colleges.
In 2005, it said a woman allegedly raped by her father-in-law could not stay with her husband, sparking an outcry from women's groups.
- REUTERS
