Meet the Qazi

◆ In His Own Words

“I wanted families to stop having to choose.”

I trained as a qazi, and for years I conducted Nikah ceremonies the way I was taught — carefully, with the khutbah, the consent of both parties sought properly, the Mahr agreed openly in front of witnesses. That work has never changed. What changed was how often I saw the same problem afterwards. A couple would come to me two or three years later, needing to prove their marriage for a visa or a bank, and they had nothing an Australian office would accept.

So I registered as a marriage celebrant under the Marriage Act 1961. Now I can do both in the same gathering. Your family sees the Nikah they came for. Quietly, inside that same ceremony, the legal words are said and the certificates are signed, and your marriage is registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW. You leave married in both senses, on the same afternoon, without booking a second celebrant.

The Nikah itself I will not rush or shorten. The khutbah is given, consent is sought from the bride clearly and in her own voice, the Mahr is agreed openly in front of the witnesses and written down, and the wali and witnesses know their part before anyone sits down. Where a family follows a particular madhhab or a particular order of du'a, that is what I follow. It is their marriage, not my ceremony.

I am based in Punchbowl and I travel across Sydney and greater New South Wales. If English is not your first language, or if the paperwork feels overwhelming, please do not let that stop you from calling. Explaining it slowly, more than once if needed, is part of the job. It is how it should be done.