Short answer
Yes. A nikah can be held in Ramadan like any other month, and no month is unlucky for marriage in Islam. The only limit comes from the fast itself: the couple may be intimate only between sunset and dawn.
A nikah in Ramadan is valid and permissible, with no dislike. Intimacy is allowed at night and forbidden during the fasting day, when it breaks the fast and requires kaffarah. Plan the walimah and celebrations so they do not take people away from the fast, taraweeh and the last ten nights.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Nothing in the Quran or sunnah forbids marrying in a particular month. The nikah is a contract of offer and acceptance before witnesses, and it is valid on any day. The four schools agree. Some families avoid Ramadan, or certain months, out of custom or a belief that they bring bad luck. Avoiding Ramadan for convenience is fine; the belief in bad luck has no basis.
What changes in Ramadan. Allah made intimacy between spouses lawful on the nights of Ramadan, so a newly married couple may be together from sunset until true dawn. During the fasting day, intercourse breaks the fast and needs a make-up day and kaffarah of sixty days of fasting. See intimacy in Ramadan.
Practical points:
- Hold the nikah after iftar, or in the day without serving food to fasting guests.
- Hold the walimah after iftar, or after Eid.
- Avoid music, mixing and very late nights that make guests miss taraweeh, suhoor or Fajr.
- Think about the last ten nights: many couples prefer to marry early in the month or after Eid so they can give those nights their due.
Starting married life in a month of worship can be a blessing. For the steps of the contract, see the nikah guide and the conditions of a valid nikah.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:187
أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمْ ۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّهُنَّ ۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ ۖ فَٱلْـَٰٔنَ بَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبْتَغُوا۟ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۚ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلْخَيْطُ ٱلْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْطِ ٱلْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ ٱلْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ وَلَا تُبَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَٰكِفُونَ فِى ٱلْمَسَٰجِدِ ۗ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقْرَبُوهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٧﴾
It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah, so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous.
Intimacy between spouses is lawful on Ramadan nights.
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:32
وَأَنكِحُوا۟ ٱلْأَيَٰمَىٰ مِنكُمْ وَٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ وَإِمَآئِكُمْ ۚ إِن يَكُونُوا۟ فُقَرَآءَ يُغْنِهِمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌۭ ﴿٣٢﴾
And marry the unmarried among you and the righteous among your male slaves and female slaves. If they should be poor, Allah will enrich them from His bounty, and Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
Marriage is encouraged with no restriction to certain months.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5065
Sahih... يا معشر الشباب من استطاع منكم الباءة فليتزوج ...
"O young people, whoever of you is able to marry, let him marry."
Marriage is encouraged whenever a person is able.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Nikah, opening chapter. The nikah is concluded by offer and acceptance before two witnesses, with no condition of a particular time.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what requires qada and kaffarah. Intercourse in the daytime of Ramadan requires qada and kaffarah.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.