The nikah nama is a contract, and its terms are yours to read, question and negotiate before you sign. Most brides see it for the first time on the day, already filled in, handed over with a pen and a room full of people waiting.
What is the nikah nama, and where does the form come from?
The nikah nama is the prescribed registration form for a Muslim marriage in Pakistan: Form II, made under the West Pakistan Rules under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (MFLO), whose section 5 makes registration of every Muslim marriage compulsory. Standard Form II carries 25 numbered columns, printed in Urdu.
Provinces have since amended the Ordinance and reissued their own versions, so the number against a clause can vary. The columns below carry their original Form II numbers. If the number on your form differs, read the wording, not the digit.
What do the 25 columns of the nikah nama ask?
| Column | What it asks |
|---|---|
| 1–12 | Ward, town or union, tehsil and district. Names, fathers’ names, residences and ages of the bridegroom and the bride. Whether the bride is a maiden, a widow or a divorcee. The vakils (representatives) appointed by each side and their witnesses, the marriage witnesses, and the date the marriage was contracted |
| 13 | The amount of dower |
| 14 | How much of the dower is prompt and how much is deferred |
| 15 | Whether any portion of the dower was paid at the time of marriage, and how much |
| 16 | Whether property was given in place of some or all of the dower, specified and valued by agreement |
| 17 | Any special condition the two parties agree |
| 18 | Whether the husband has delegated the power of divorce to the wife, and on what conditions |
| 19 | Whether the husband’s own right of divorce is curtailed — a restriction on him, usually a condition or a financial consequence, rather than a right extended to her |
| 20 | Whether any other document was drawn up at the time of marriage concerning dower or maintenance |
| 21 | Whether the bridegroom already has a wife, and if so whether he has the Arbitration Council’s permission to contract another marriage |
| 22 | The number and date of the letter conveying that permission |
| 23–25 | Who solemnised the marriage, the date of registration, and the fee paid |
| Signatures | The bride, the bridegroom or his vakil, the bride’s vakil, the witnesses to each appointment, the marriage witnesses, and the registrar with his seal |
Check the ages and the CNIC numbers in columns 1 to 12. A wrong age can obscure an underage marriage, and a passport application or an inheritance claim later flows from this document.
How is haq mehr recorded on the nikah nama?
Columns 13 to 16 of the nikah nama deal with dower, the financial heart of the contract. Haq mehr is the bride’s own property, owed by the husband to her and not to her family — a requirement of the marriage, not a courtesy.
Prompt and deferred, column 14
Column 14 splits the haq mehr into prompt and deferred, and it is the single most consequential number on the form. Prompt dower is payable at the time of marriage or on demand afterwards, which makes it the portion you can actually put to work. Deferred dower falls due later — in practice, usually on divorce or the husband’s death.
PKR 500,000 split as PKR 5,000 prompt and PKR 495,000 deferred is not the same promise as PKR 500,000 on demand: in the first you can ask for PKR 5,000 today, in the second for all of it. The form’s Arabic-derived terms are transliterated inconsistently across printings, so read for the distinction, not the spelling.
Property in place of dower, column 16
If you are given gold, land or anything else instead of cash, describe it in column 16 and agree the valuation now — for gold, at the day’s published rate. Doing it later, in front of a judge, is much harder.
What is column 17 of the nikah nama?
Column 17 of the nikah nama is an open field for any condition the two parties agree, so long as it is consistent with Shariah and Pakistani law. Written there, a condition becomes a contract term rather than an understanding.
This is where people put terms on where the couple will live, whether the wife may continue her education or her job, monthly maintenance, ownership of the dowry and jewellery, and financial security on divorce.
Column 20 asks separately whether any other document on dower or maintenance was drawn up at the time of marriage. Maintenance is a right separate from haq mehr, so if a monthly amount has been agreed, put it in writing — in column 17, in a document recorded under column 20, or both.
What is talaq-e-tafweez, and where is it on the nikah nama?
Talaq-e-tafweez is the husband delegating his own power of pronouncing talaq to his wife, and column 18 of the nikah nama is where it is recorded. Where it is recorded, she can end the marriage herself rather than petitioning a court for khula.
Section 8 of the MFLO confirms that where the right has been duly delegated and the wife wishes to exercise it, the section 7 procedure applies — the same notice-to-chairman route a husband would use. It is optional, and the marriage is perfectly valid without it.
What did a review of 1,100 nikah namas find?
The National Commission for Human Rights studied 1,100 nikah namas from Lahore and Pakpattan in 2023. The clauses that protect the bride were the ones most often left empty.
| Clause | What the NCHR found |
|---|---|
| Column 14, prompt vs deferred | Cases where roughly 1% of the dower was prompt — often capped at PKR 5,000 — and 99% deferred |
| Column 17, special conditions | Conditions stipulated in 20% of the Pakpattan sample and 11% of the Lahore sample; the column left incomplete, blank or crossed out in 29% and 19% respectively |
| Column 18, delegated divorce | 29 of the 1,100 forms delegated the right to the bride; over 27% did not complete the column at all; 52% of registrars surveyed believed they could cross it out themselves if the elders present agreed |
| Column 19, limits on the husband | 145 of the 1,100 forms recorded a condition |
Does a man need permission to take a second wife?
No man may contract another marriage during an existing one without the Arbitration Council’s prior written permission — section 6 of the MFLO — and a marriage contracted without it cannot be registered. Columns 21 and 22 of the nikah nama record whether the bridegroom already has a wife, and the number and date of that letter.
What if a column on the nikah nama is blank or crossed out?
A blank or struck-through column on the nikah nama is a decision, often somebody else’s. Under rule 10 of the West Pakistan Rules the registrar fills in Form II in quadruplicate: the bride and the bridegroom each receive their own copy, and one goes to the Union Council.
Punjab went further in 2015, requiring a registrar there to fill in every entry, with the answers given by the bride and groom themselves.
| Failure | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Not reporting a marriage for registration — section 5(4), MFLO | Up to three months’ simple imprisonment, a fine of up to PKR 1,000, or both |
| A Punjab registrar not completing every entry — 2015 amendment | Up to one month’s simple imprisonment and a PKR 25,000 fine |
| Marrying again without Arbitration Council permission — section 6, MFLO | The entire dower due to the existing wife or wives, prompt and deferred, payable immediately and recoverable as arrears of land revenue; on conviction, up to a year’s simple imprisonment, a fine of up to PKR 5,000, or both |
Before you sign
- Read the nikah nama yourself, in Urdu, unhurried — and ask for a copy in advance if you can
- Check columns 13 to 16, and be clear on how much of the haq mehr is prompt
- Decide about column 18, the delegated right of divorce, before the day
- Write anything you have agreed into column 17
- Confirm the ages and CNIC numbers entered in columns 1 to 12
- Take your own copy home
If any of this is contested, speak to a family lawyer. This page can tell you what the columns say; only a lawyer who knows your facts can say what they mean for you.
A shorter companion piece: before you sign: must-know information about your nikah nama.
General information on Form II under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 and the West Pakistan Rules. Provincial amendments change column numbering and some penalties, so read the wording on your own form.
