Re: …Nikah vs. Engagement…
It depends on the circumstances. My brother did his nikkah 1 year before the rukhsati, but that was because he needed to produce a marriage certificate in order to apply for her immigration to the UK, so that she could go to the UK with him immediately after the rukhsati.
So for a year, the poor guy could do nothing more than phone and SMS his new wife (on a near daily basis :yukh: ) and talk to her on MSN …