The hadith about marriage (nikah), each in Arabic with a plain English rendering, the narrator, the collection and number, and the grading: why to marry, who to choose, consent and the wali, the wedding, and kindness between husband and wife.
يَا مَعْشَرَ الشَّبَابِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ الْبَاءَةَ فَلْيَتَزَوَّجْ، فَإِنَّهُ أَغَضُّ لِلْبَصَرِ، وَأَحْصَنُ لِلْفَرْجِ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَعَلَيْهِ بِالصَّوْمِ، فَإِنَّهُ لَهُ وِجَاءٌ
O young people, whoever of you can afford to marry, let him marry, for it lowers the gaze and guards chastity. And whoever cannot, let him fast, for it will be a shield for him.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud · Sahih al-Bukhari 5066; Sahih Muslim 1400 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
أَنْتُمُ الَّذِينَ قُلْتُمْ كَذَا وَكَذَا أَمَا وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لأَخْشَاكُمْ لِلَّهِ وَأَتْقَاكُمْ لَهُ، لَكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأُصَلِّي وَأَرْقُدُ وَأَتَزَوَّجُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي
(Three men said they would pray all night, fast every day and never marry. He said:) Are you the ones who said such and such? By Allah, I fear Allah more than any of you and am the most mindful of Him, yet I fast and break my fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my sunnah is not of me.
Narrated by Anas ibn Malik · Sahih al-Bukhari 5063; Sahih Muslim 1401 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
تُنْكَحُ الْمَرْأَةُ لأَرْبَعٍ لِمَالِهَا وَلِحَسَبِهَا وَجَمَالِهَا وَلِدِينِهَا، فَاظْفَرْ بِذَاتِ الدِّينِ تَرِبَتْ يَدَاكَ
A woman is married for four things: her wealth, her lineage, her beauty and her religion. Win the one with religion, may your hands be covered in dust!
"May your hands be covered in dust" is an Arabic expression of urging, not a curse.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 5090; Sahih Muslim 1466 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
الدُّنْيَا مَتَاعٌ وَخَيْرُ مَتَاعِ الدُّنْيَا الْمَرْأَةُ الصَّالِحَةُ
This world is something to enjoy, and the best enjoyment of this world is a righteous woman.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr · Sahih Muslim 1467 · Sahih
إِذَا خَطَبَ إِلَيْكُمْ مَنْ تَرْضَوْنَ دِينَهُ وَخُلُقَهُ فَزَوِّجُوهُ إِلاَّ تَفْعَلُوا تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ عَرِيضٌ
When someone whose religion and character you are pleased with proposes to you, marry him. If you do not, there will be trouble on the earth and widespread corruption.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1084 · Graded hasan by al-Albani
لاَ تُنْكَحُ الأَيِّمُ حَتَّى تُسْتَأْمَرَ وَلاَ تُنْكَحُ الْبِكْرُ حَتَّى تُسْتَأْذَنَ ... أَنْ تَسْكُتَ
A previously married woman is not to be married until she is consulted, and a virgin is not to be married until her permission is asked. (They asked: O Messenger of Allah, how is her permission given? He said:) By her staying silent.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 5136; Sahih Muslim 1419 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
لاَ نِكَاحَ إِلاَّ بِوَلِيٍّ
There is no marriage without a guardian (wali).
The schools read this hadith differently. See the guide below, Hanafi first.
Narrated by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari · Sunan Abi Dawud 2085; Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1101; Sunan Ibn Majah 1881 · Graded sahih by al-Albani
خَيْرُ النِّكَاحِ أَيْسَرُهُ
The best marriage is the easiest one.
Narrated by Uqbah ibn Amir · Sunan Abi Dawud 2117 · Graded sahih by al-Albani
أَحَقُّ الشُّرُوطِ أَنْ تُوفُوا بِهِ مَا اسْتَحْلَلْتُمْ بِهِ الْفُرُوجَ
The conditions most deserving to be fulfilled are those by which you made intimacy lawful.
Narrated by Uqbah ibn Amir · Sahih al-Bukhari 2721; Sahih Muslim 1418 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
أَوْلِمْ وَلَوْ بِشَاةٍ
(To Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, when he married:) Give a wedding feast, even if only with one sheep.
Narrated by Anas ibn Malik · Sahih al-Bukhari 5167; Sahih Muslim 1427 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
فَصْلُ مَا بَيْنَ الْحَرَامِ وَالْحَلاَلِ الدُّفُّ وَالصَّوْتُ
What separates the lawful from the unlawful (in marriage) is the daff and the voice.
That is, a marriage is made public, unlike a secret relationship.
Narrated by Muhammad ibn Hatib · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1088 · Graded hasan by al-Albani
خَيْرُكُمْ خَيْرُكُمْ لأَهْلِهِ وَأَنَا خَيْرُكُمْ لأَهْلِي
The best of you is the best to his family, and I am the best of you to my family.
Narrated by Aishah · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3895 · Graded sahih by al-Albani
أَكْمَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِيمَانًا أَحْسَنُهُمْ خُلُقًا وَخِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ لِنِسَائِهِمْ خُلُقًا
The most complete of the believers in faith are those best in character, and the best of you are those best in character to their wives.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1162 · Graded hasan sahih by al-Albani
لاَ يَفْرَكْ مُؤْمِنٌ مُؤْمِنَةً إِنْ كَرِهَ مِنْهَا خُلُقًا رَضِيَ مِنْهَا آخَرَ
A believing man should not hate a believing woman. If he dislikes one trait in her, he will be pleased with another.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih Muslim 1469 · Sahih
These are often posted as hadith, but the hadith critics did not accept them as the Prophet's ﷺ words, or they are not found in the hadith books at all. Do not pass them on as hadith.
أَعْلِنُوا هَذَا النِّكَاحَ وَاجْعَلُوهُ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ وَاضْرِبُوا عَلَيْهِ بِالدُّفُوفِ
"Announce this marriage, hold it in the mosques, and beat the daff for it."
Where: Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1089. Grade: graded weak (da'if) by al-Albani. The command to announce a marriage is reported in other sound wordings; the part about holding it in the mosques is the weak part.
"When a servant marries, he has completed half of the religion, so let him fear Allah in the other half."
Where: Al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, and at-Tabarani. Grade: each chain is weak; al-Albani graded it hasan because the chains support each other. Quote it with that note, not as a hadith of al-Bukhari or Muslim.
Arabic: the standard wording from the fawazahmed0 hadith-api dataset of the six books and the Muwatta, cut to the Prophet's ﷺ words. English: our own plain rendering. Words in brackets are the setting, not the hadith. Muslim numbers follow Abd al-Baqi, as on sunnah.com. Pending review by the scholars on our team.
Guide
Short answer: the best known hadith about marriage is "O young people, whoever of you can afford to marry, let him marry" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5066, Sahih Muslim 1400). The Prophet ﷺ called marriage his sunnah (Sahih al-Bukhari 5063), told men to choose a wife for her religion (Sahih al-Bukhari 5090), required the bride's consent (Sahih al-Bukhari 5136), and said "the best of you is the best to his family" (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3895).
All the schools require the bride's consent in some form and two witnesses. They differ on whether a woman may conclude her own marriage, which is where the hadith "no marriage without a wali" comes in.
An adult, sane woman may conclude her own marriage, and it is valid without her wali, though it is better and recommended that the wali conclude it. If she marries a man who is not her equal (kuf'), her wali may ask a judge to annul it, and the later Hanafi fatwa view holds such a marriage invalid from the start. An adult woman cannot be married without her consent; for a virgin, her silence when asked counts as consent. The Hanafis read "no marriage without a wali" as about minors, or as describing the complete and proper form.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
For the steps of the ceremony, see the nikah guide. For verses, see Quran verses about marriage, and for duties in the home, rights of husband and wife.
salah (prayer), charity (sadaqah), seeking knowledge, lying and truthfulness, tahajjud (the night prayer), kindness and mercy, patience (sabr), cleanliness and purity, intention (niyyah), parents and mothers, neighbours. Or see all hadith topics.
Questions
"O young people, whoever of you can afford to marry, let him marry, for it lowers the gaze and guards chastity" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5066, Sahih Muslim 1400).
It is reported by al-Bayhaqi and at-Tabarani. Each chain is weak, but al-Albani graded it hasan because they support each other. Quote it with that note.
"A woman is married for four things: her wealth, her lineage, her beauty and her religion. Win the one with religion" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5090, Sahih Muslim 1466).
In the Hanafi school, an adult woman's marriage to a suitable man is valid without a wali, though the wali's involvement is recommended. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools require the wali for validity.
"The best of you is the best to his family, and I am the best of you to my family" (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3895), and "the best of you are those best in character to their wives" (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1162).