Marriage Contract, - * Reciting al-Faatihah when getting engaged

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I am a young Muslim man who is about to get married. In the country where I am going to do the marriage contract, they do something that they call “Reciting al-Faatihah.” When a man wants to get married in our country, they recite al-Faatihah, and they invite some of the male relatives to that, and they offer them some sweets and drinks. Is reciting al-Faatihah part of the Sunnah, and if that is the case, what are the consequences of doing that?
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Praise be to Allah.
Reciting al-Faatihah at the time of the marriage contract or engagement has nothing to do with the Sunnah; rather it is an innovation (bid‘ah). It is not permissible to single out any part of the Qur’an for any actions except on the basis of evidence.
Abu Shaamah al-Maqdisi said inal-Baa‘ith ‘ala Inkaar al-Bida‘ wa’l-Hawaadith(165):
It is not appropriate to single out times for acts of worship that were not singled out for such acts in Islamic teachings. People have no authority decide such matters; rather that is the prerogative of the Lawgiver. End quote.
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:
Is reciting al-Faatihah at the time when a man gets engaged to a woman an innovation (bid ‘ah)?
They replied:
Reciting al-Faatihah at the time of a man's proposal to a woman or at the time of his marriage contract with her is an innovation. End quote.
None of the rulings of the marriage contract come into effect as a consequence of reciting al-Faatihah. Reciting al-Faatihah does not mean that the marriage contract has been completed; rather what matters is the proposal and acceptance with the wali (woman’s guardian) and witnesses.
The Sunnah is to recite khutbat al-haajah at the time of the marriage contract.
It was narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught us Khutbat al-Haajah, (to be said) at weddings and on other occasions:
“Inna al-hamda Lillaahi nasta’eenahu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na’oodhu bihi min shuroori anfusinaa. Man yahdih Illaahu falaa mudilla lahu wa man yudlil falaa haadiya lahu. Wa ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu(Verily, all praise is to Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Him from the evil of our own souls. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger).
‘ Yaa ayyuha’n-naas uttaqu rabbakum alladhi khalaqakum min nafsin waahidatin wa khalaqa minhaa zawjahaa wa baththa minhumaa rijaalan katheeran wa nisaa’an wa’ttaqu-Llaah alladhi tasaa’aloona bihi wa’l-arhaama inna Allaaha kaana ‘alaykum raqeeban(O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person, and from him He created his wife, and from them both He created many men and women, and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship) Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you).’ [al-Nisaa’ 4:1]
‘Yaa ayyuha’lladheena aamanu-ttaqu’Llaaha haqqa tuqaatihi wa laa tamootunna illaa wa antum muslimoon(O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah.)’ [Aal ‘Imraan 3:102]
‘Yaa ayyahu’lladheena aamanu-ttaqu’Llaaha wa qooloo qawlan sadeedan yuslih lakum a’maalakum wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum wa man yuti’ Allaaha wa rasoolahu fa qad faaza fawzan ‘azeeman(O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth). He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell‑fire and will be admitted to Paradise)’ [al-Ahzaab 33:70, 71].”
Narrated by Abu Dawood (2118) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood.
The people have turned away from this Sunnah and adhered to this bid ‘ah. We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to bring the Muslims back to their religion in the best way.
And Allah knows best.

Marriage Contract, - * It is permissible for the woman’s maternal uncle to be her guardian for the purpose of marriage if he is appointed as a proxy by her original guardian

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I have been married for 3 years now and I keep having doubts about whether it is valid or not. I cannot distinguish whether the doubts are true or false waswas from the shaitan. My doubt mainly arises from the fact that since my dad was the wali and he appointment my maternal uncle to be the wakeel, but my father is someone whose religious knowledge and comittment i did not trust at that time, due to his lack of knowledge and implementation. I recently did my nikka again to be on the safe side but this fatwa website told me that according to imam shafi if one wants to redo the doubtful marriage contract they have to divorce the husband first and then redo it. If that is the case then in the case my last marriage was valid then this will be my third divorce after which i cannot remary my husand again but if previous marriage was not valid then according to them i will be committing haram, but I never knew that if u want to redo your nikkah you have to get divorced first. Please help me and advise me in my situation as I dont know where I stand, Is my nikkah valid? Shouldn't get your nikkah done again be okay in case you have doubts, that is the idea i got from reading your website.
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Praise be to Allah.
In order for the marriage to be valid, the contract must be done by the woman’s guardian or his proxy. Whether this proxy is one of their relatives or otherwise, the marriage contract done by him, based on that appointment as proxy, is valid and there is no problem with it.
If her guardian appointed the woman’s maternal uncle as his proxy, for example, or any other man, to do the marriage contract for her, the marriage contract is valid. This has been explained in fatwa no. 153602.
Based on that, your marriage contract is valid and there is no problem with it, because even though your father did not do it directly, it was done by his proxy, and that is permissible.
So ignore these insinuating whispers (waswaas) that the Shaytaan is sending to you, and understand that you do not need to re-do your marriage contract because it is valid.
And Allah knows best.

Marriage Contract, - * He divorced his Christian wife three times, then she married a Christian man,who then divorced her; is she permissible for her first husband?

I married a Christian woman but she did not become a Muslim. Our
marriage was done in the Islamic way. I divorced her three times, and
after the divorce she got married to a Christian man, then he divorced
her.
Is it permissible for me to marry her again?
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Praise be to Allah.
If a Muslim marries a Christian woman, then divorces her three times,
then she marries a Christian man after that in a valid marriage, and
he is intimate with her in the manner in which a man is intimate with
his wife, then he divorces her, in that case she becomes permissible
for her first husband, the Muslim, after the end of her 'iddah. That
is because of the general meaning of the verse in which Allah, may He
be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):"And if he has
divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him
thereafter until she has married another husband. Then, if the other
husband divorces her, it is no sin on both of them that they reunite,
provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah"
[al-Baqarah 2:230]. And the Christian man in this scenario is a
husband. This is the view of the majority of scholars.
Imam ash-Shaafa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said inal-Umm(4/289):
If a Muslim man divorces his Christian wife three times, then a
Christian or a slave marries her, and has intercourse with her, then
she becomes permissible to the first husband if the second husband
divorces her, once her 'iddah has ended, because either of these two
men is a husband, and Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):"until she has married another
husband" [al-Baqarah 2:230]. So in this case she has married another
husband. End quote.
Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a man who
married a Christian woman, then divorced her, then she married a
Christian man who then divorced her. Can she go back to the Muslim? He
said: Yes; do you not see that Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):"until she has married another husband" [al-Baqarah 2:230]?
And is this man not a husband? End quote.
And he was asked about a Christian woman who was married to a Muslim,
who divorced her three times, and her 'iddah ended, then she married a
Christian man who consummated the marriage with her, then he died or
divorced her; is it permissible for her Muslim ex-husband to marry
this Christian woman?
He said: Yes, because he was a husband. A Christian may make a dhimmi
woman permissible for a Muslim to remarry.
End quote fromAhkaam Ahl al-Milal wa'r-Riddah(p.170)
It says inal-Fataawa al-Hindiyyah(1/473):
If a Christian woman was married to a Muslim and he divorced her three
times, then she married a Christian man and he consummated the
marriage with her, she becomes permissible for the Muslim who
previously divorced her three times (to remarry). End quote.
It says inal-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah(10/256):
The majority of fuqaha' are of the view that intercourse with her
dhimmi husband makes it permissible for her to remarry the first
husband (if the second husband then divorces her), because the
Christian man is a husband. But that is contrary to the view of
Maalik, Rabee'ah and Ibn al-Qaasim, who said that this does not make
her permissile (for the Muslim man to remarry).
And Allah knows best.
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Marriage Contract, - * The marriage contract is not valid if the man’s sister asks for the hand of the woman for her brother, in the presence of the woman’s guardian

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The sister of a young man told me over the Internet that her brother wanted to ask for my hand in marriage, and after consulting my parents, they let me choose, so I agreed and I told the young man that I agreed, but I stipulated some conditions before that. Then after that, that young man came with his parents and his sister, and his sister asked for my hand, mentioning me by name, for her brother, mentioning him by name, in the presence of his parents and my parents, and my father responded by saying that the girl is your daughter. According to our traditions, we give the answer a few days later for the purpose of confirmation, so they called us and we told them that we had not changed our minds.
Does this count as a marriage contract? Please note that we will document it as a civil contract in three months’ time.
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Praise be to Allah.
If the matter happened as mentioned in the question, then the marriage contract has not yet been done, for two reasons:
1. it is not sufficient, with regard to a marriage contract, for the families of the spouses only to be present; rather it is essential to have the proposal, which refers to words to be spoken by the woman’s guardian or his deputy, and the acceptance, which refers to words to be spoken by the husband or his deputy, in order for the marriage contract to be valid. It is also stipulated in the marriage contract that the proposal should come before the acceptance, according to the view of a number of scholars. However the majority of scholars do not stipulate that the proposal should come before the acceptance, and this is the correct view.
2. Regardless of whether we say that the proposal must come first or not, the marriage contract cannot be valid on the basis of the man’s sister requesting the woman’s hand in marriage for her brother, even if she specified their names, or even if the wording of the proposal and acceptance for marriage were spoken, because it is not valid for a woman to do the marriage contract either for herself or anyone else.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a person does not have the right to dispose of affairs on his own behalf, it is not valid for him to act as a proxy in such matters, such as a woman with regard to doing the marriage contract or accepting it.
End quote fromal-Mughni(5/52)
It says inal-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah(45/22): It is not permissible to appoint a woman as a proxy for the purpose of marriage according to the majority of fuqaha’, because she cannot give herself in marriage, so she cannot be appointed as a proxy for the purpose of marriage.
Based on that, what you must do now is do the marriage contract first of all, which should be done by the woman’s guardian (her father) or another man whom he appoints as his proxy, and the acceptance must be done by the man or another man whom he appoints as his proxy.
We ask Allah to bring you together on the basis of good.
And Allah knows best.