How to Marry a Woman Who Has No Guardian
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Your Eminence! In Jeddah, we have many foreign nationalities. Women come to get married, but they have no guardian (wali) because they came to the country alone. So they get married without a guardian. What is obligatory regarding this? May Allah reward you with good.
In reality, this is not a problem. That is, if foreign women come to the country without their guardians, there is no problem, because the matter is presented to the Shari'ah court. For a woman who has no guardian, the ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian. The ruler's deputy acts in place of the ruler, and the Shari'ah judge has the authority to marry off a woman who has no guardian. He also has the authority to marry off a woman who has a guardian but who refused to marry her to a suitor who is suitable (kufu') for her, and we, students of knowledge, must pay attention to this issue: Some guardians, may Allah protect us from that, consider their daughters and sisters to be like livestock; they sell and buy them, and they compete over them. They prevent a person who is suitable in his religion and character because they do not like him, and this is forbidden (haram).
If this prevention is repeated by him, he becomes an open sinner (fasiq) who has departed from justice. His testimony is not accepted, and his leading of people in prayer is not accepted. According to the opinion of some scholars, he does not lead people in prayer, and it is not valid for him to be a guardian. If this guardian repeatedly prevents the one under his guardianship from marrying a suitable person, we say to him: You have no guardianship over her.
And we look for a closer guardian. If the guardians refuse, as is usually the case, they say: If her father did not marry her off, we are not obligated to marry her off. If the other guardians refuse the guardianship, it transfers to the authority of the judge. In this case, it is obligatory for the judge to marry her to a suitable person and not to refrain from doing so.
So, the result is that these foreign women must, if they want to get married, go to the court and explain the situation to the Shari'ah judge. He, in turn, will marry them off. However, if the marriage takes place without a guardian, the marriage is defective (fasid) and not valid. It is not permissible for the husband to have intercourse with her, cohabit with her, or be alone with her based on this contract.Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (There is no marriage except with a guardian) meaning: There is no valid marriage except with a guardian. It is obligatory for you, if you know this with certainty, to inform the responsible authorities there, whether the court, the governorate, or the committee, so that the contract is renewed by the hand of the Shari'ah judge.
In reality, this is not a problem. That is, if foreign women come to the country without their guardians, there is no problem, because the matter is presented to the Shari'ah court. For a woman who has no guardian, the ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian. The ruler's deputy acts in place of the ruler, and the Shari'ah judge has the authority to marry off a woman who has no guardian. He also has the authority to marry off a woman who has a guardian but who refused to marry her to a suitor who is suitable (kufu') for her, and we, students of knowledge, must pay attention to this issue: Some guardians, may Allah protect us from that, consider their daughters and sisters to be like livestock; they sell and buy them, and they compete over them. They prevent a person who is suitable in his religion and character because they do not like him, and this is forbidden (haram).
If this prevention is repeated by him, he becomes an open sinner (fasiq) who has departed from justice. His testimony is not accepted, and his leading of people in prayer is not accepted. According to the opinion of some scholars, he does not lead people in prayer, and it is not valid for him to be a guardian. If this guardian repeatedly prevents the one under his guardianship from marrying a suitable person, we say to him: You have no guardianship over her.
And we look for a closer guardian. If the guardians refuse, as is usually the case, they say: If her father did not marry her off, we are not obligated to marry her off. If the other guardians refuse the guardianship, it transfers to the authority of the judge. In this case, it is obligatory for the judge to marry her to a suitable person and not to refrain from doing so.
So, the result is that these foreign women must, if they want to get married, go to the court and explain the situation to the Shari'ah judge. He, in turn, will marry them off. However, if the marriage takes place without a guardian, the marriage is defective (fasid) and not valid. It is not permissible for the husband to have intercourse with her, cohabit with her, or be alone with her based on this contract.Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (There is no marriage except with a guardian) meaning: There is no valid marriage except with a guardian. It is obligatory for you, if you know this with certainty, to inform the responsible authorities there, whether the court, the governorate, or the committee, so that the contract is renewed by the hand of the Shari'ah judge.