<P> A religious marriage without civil registration may or may not be legally binding . In some countries, however, such as Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Mauritania and Indonesia, religious marriage is the only legally binding marriage . </P> <P> Consummation is in particular relevant in a Catholic marriage . Within the Roman Catholic Church, if a matrimonial celebration takes place (ratification) but the spouses have not yet engaged in intercourse (consummation), then the marriage is said to be a marriage ratum sed non consummatum . Such a marriage, regardless of the reason for non-consummation, can be dissolved by the pope . Additionally, an inability or an intentional refusal to consummate the marriage is probable grounds for an annulment . Catholic canon law defines a marriage as consummated when the "spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh ." Thus some theologians, such as Fr . John A. Hardon, S.J., state that intercourse with contraception does not consummate a marriage . </P> <P> Traditionally, in many cultures, for example in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures (where Islam and Hinduism is followed and sex before marriage is not allowed), consummation was an important act because it was the act which proved the bride's virginity; the presence of blood was erroneously taken as definitive confirmation that the woman was indeed a virgin . </P> <P> In the family law defining civil marriage in some jurisdictions, particularly those where the civil marriage laws remain influenced by religion (albeit they are officially secular) non-consummation of a marriage may be a ground for annulment (an annulment is different from a divorce because it usually acts retrospectively). This stipulation has been in recent years heavily criticized on a wide variety of grounds, ranging from the mixing of religious doctrine into secular law, to being degrading to women given its negative historical connotations of ownership of the wife . It has been argued that the purpose of this ground is not clear: it is neither procreation (the act need not end in pregnancy, and neither is there a need of the possibility of it, given the fact the consummation is legally valid even if one or both parties is sterile), neither is it the expectation of sexual satisfaction in marriage (one single act of sexual intercourse is sufficient, even if the spouse following the consummation says he / she will never again engage in intercourse). Andrew Bainham argues that this law (in England and Wales) is outdated and must be abolished "in a modern society committed to equality and human rights in personal relationships". </P>

When does a marriage have to be consummated