## Facts

- Ahmed Farah (husband) and Naima Mansur (wife), Virginia residents, used an Islamic marriage procedure associated with the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
- In July 1988, the parties attempted to marry through a proxy “Nikah” ceremony conducted in London, England, while neither party was physically present there.
- No marriage license or certificate was issued or recorded by English civil authorities in connection with the proxy ceremony.
- About one month later, the parties traveled to Pakistan, where the wife’s family held a Rukhsati reception symbolizing the bride’s departure with the husband.
- The parties returned to Virginia, bought a jointly titled home, and lived together as husband and wife for about one year.
- Although they intended to have a civil ceremony in the United States, they never did.
- After separation, the husband sought a declaration that the marriage was void; the wife sought divorce and equitable distribution.
- The trial court treated the marriage as valid (relying on Islamic/Pakistani law), granted a divorce, and ordered equitable distribution; the husband appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Virginia must recognize the parties’ proxy marriage based on the law of the jurisdiction where it was celebrated (England).
2. Whether Islamic law, Pakistani law, or the later Rukhsati in Pakistan could render the marriage valid for Virginia purposes despite noncompliance with English civil requirements.
3. Whether the parties’ cohabitation and holding out as spouses in Virginia created a common-law marriage recognizable in Virginia.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Virginia reversed the trial court.
- The proxy marriage was treated as contracted and celebrated in England; because it was invalid under English law, it was void for Virginia recognition purposes.
- The Rukhsati was a cultural/religious event without legal effect and could not cure the invalidity of the English proxy ceremony.
- Virginia does not recognize common-law marriages created within Virginia; the parties’ conduct in Virginia could not establish a valid marriage.
- The court remanded with instructions to vacate the declaratory judgment and divorce decree and for further proceedings consistent with the absence of a valid marriage.

## Legal Principles

- Virginia applies lex loci celebrationis: a marriage is recognized as valid only if valid under the law of the jurisdiction where it was celebrated; a marriage void where celebrated is void in Virginia.
- Foreign religious law or another nation’s law does not control Virginia’s recognition analysis when the marriage was celebrated in a different jurisdiction whose civil law governs the ceremony’s validity.
- A later ceremony or celebration in another country does not retroactively validate a marriage that was void at inception under the governing place-of-celebration law.
- Virginia will not create or recognize a common-law marriage formed within Virginia, even where parties cohabit and present themselves as married.
- Divorce and equitable distribution remedies premised on marital status are unavailable absent a valid marriage.

## Conclusion

The court held that the parties were never legally married because the English proxy ceremony was invalid under English law, the subsequent Rukhsati had no legal effect, and Virginia law does not permit creation of a common-law marriage in Virginia; accordingly, the divorce and equitable distribution orders were reversed and vacated on remand.


Farah v. Farah, 429 S.E.2d 626 (Va. Ct. App. 1993)