Lawful MARRIAGE IN ISLAM, Minimum Requirment

What makes two people lawful to each other as husband and wife in Islam or for intimancy is:

1. The Ceremony is performed by a Muslim;He need not have special title or position but should be morally decent.

2. There is at least two male witnesses or one male and two female, all Muslims.

3. One party cannot be someone guilty of unlawful sex marrying a virgin. 24:3.

4. The parties cannot be so closely related they violate what is allowed in Holy Qur'an. 4:23.

5. If a husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), He cannot, after that, re-marry her until after she has married another husband and He has divorced her. 2:230

6. She cannot be and idol worshipper, but can be Christian of Jew. 2:221;5:5.

7. She can marry Muslim only. 60:10.

8. She must not be in iddah, but have observed the waiting period.

9. She cannot be someone whom the father was previously married to. 4:22.

10. She should have consent of her wali, with priority to father, grandfather, uncle, step-father, brother and son, and if neither of these are Muslim or not available the the Imam or community leader should be the wali. The brother-in-law and cousin would be very bad choices.

11. You should have a contract and the best contract is one that is drafted  and written in clear language which the common person can understand and it must include the dower at a minimum clearly spelled out and how it will be given.

If the Wali refuses to consent to marriage to a brother who is Islamically acceptable then the sister should go to the next person in order of priority for his consent and if none consent continuously she should go to the Imam and if they all still refuse then the Imam should be her wali.

Having posed the original question and gotten some response we post this information for those who might benefit from it. as a follow up, and further advise that there may be some 'exceptions' to 'application' of what is posted here depending on varying circumstances