Nikah (the legal marriage contract under Section 5 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961) is marriage. It is the most common way of marriage in Islam. It is the legitimate contract signed by the bride and the groom before entering the marriage with their acceptance. Engagement is called Khitba in Arabic. It simply implies that the man has promised to marry the girl and that the future bride is now "out of the marriage market". Engagement is the pre-stage of marriage and nikah is the final marriage. Engagement is the period between proposal and marriage. Engagement may break off, but it will not be considered as marriage. The person after breaking engagement can marry the one they want. But breaking marriage leads to divorce.
In our 30+ years of family law practice, we have fielded this exact question hundreds of times from couples across Pakistan and overseas. In our experience, the confusion is highest in diaspora communities where cultural engagement practices from countries of residence blur the Islamic and legal distinctions.
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