A woman offering herself to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

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The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, we did not know that a woman could offer herself to anyone other than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Is this specific to him, or is it general?

The Shaykh:
Yes, this is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as stated explicitly in the Qur'an. A woman

if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the

وَهَبَتْ نَفْسَهَا لِلنَّبِيِّ إِنْ أَرَادَ النَّبِيُّ أَن يَسْتَنكِحَهَا خَالِصَةً لَّكَ مِن دُونِ

[Al-Ahzab 33:50]

her husband, so if a woman offers herself, this is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for others, if she offers herself, she must have a guardian (wali), as in the hadith:

No woman is to be married except by her guardian (wali)

لا نكاها الا من ولي

As for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he may marry her without a guardian if she offers herself to him. This is specific to him (peace and blessings be upon him), because he is the guardian (wali) of the believers, (peace and blessings be upon him), as in:

The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves

النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ

[Al-Ahzab 33:6]

. This is a characteristic of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes.

The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh.

The Shaykh:
But she may attend, and before the marriage, but the wedding feast (walimah) must be held.

Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 119 من 175 /شرح بلوغ المرام/النكاح/أحاديث في النكاح/صالح الفوزان/الحديث/كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:00:25)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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