Validity of marriage contract formulation in languages other than Arabic when the person is capable of speaking Arabic?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
If a person is capable of uttering the formula for marriage in Arabic, the contract is invalid if concluded in any other language. This is one position attributed to Al-Shafi'i. The evidence supporting the necessity of Arabic is that one who deviates from the specific formulas of 'inkah (to marry off) or tazwij (to wed) while being capable of using them, the contract is invalid, analogous to the word used for rendering something permissible (ihlāl).
Supporting text
According to Abu Hanifa, the contract is valid in other languages because the person used the specific terminology for the act, which should suffice just as the Arabic terminology suffices.