If the man and the woman are to say the formula of a permanent marriage themselves, then after specifying the amount of dowry (mahr), the woman commences by saying: زَوَّجْتُكَ نَفْسِيْ عَلَى الصِّدَاقِ الْمَعْلُوْمِ zawwajtuka nafsī ʿalaṣ ṣidāqil maʿlūm I wed myself to you with the agreed-upon dowry. After that, without there being any significant gap, the man says: قَبِلْتُ التَّزْوِيْجَ qabiltut tazwīj I accept the marriage. If this is done, the marriage contract is valid (ṣaḥīḥ).
The marriage contract is also valid if the man simply says: قَبِلْتُ qabiltu I accept. If the man and the woman each appoint an agent to say the marriage contract formula on their behalf, and if, for example, the name of the man is Aḥmad and the name of the woman is Fāṭimah, the woman’s agent says: زَوَّجْتُ مُوَکِّلَكَ أَحْمَدَ مُوَکِّلَتِيْ فَاطِمَةَ عَلَى الصِّدَاقِ الْمَعْلُوْمِ zawwajtu muwakkilaka aḥmad muwakkilatī fāṭimah ʿalaṣ ṣidāqil maʿlūm I wed your client Aḥmad to my client Fāṭimah with the agreed-upon dowry.
After that, without there being any significant gap, the man’s agent says: قَبِلْتُ التَّـزْوِیْجَ لِمُوَکِّلِيْ أَحْمَدَ عَلَى الصِّدَاقِ الْمَعْلُوْمِ qabiltut tazwīja limuwakkilī aḥmad ʿalaṣ ṣidāqil maʿlūm I accept the marriage on behalf of my client Aḥmad with the agreed-upon dowry. If this is done, the marriage contract is valid. The recommended precaution (al‑iḥtiyāṭ al‑mustaḥabb) is that the words said by the man should be consistent with the words said by the woman.
For example, if the woman uses the expression زَوَّجْتُ [zawwajtu], the man should respond with قَبِلْتُ التَّزْوِیجَ [qabiltut tazwīj] instead of قَبِلْتُ النِّكَاحَ [qabiltun nikāḥ].