What is the ruling in Islam, in your opinion, regarding marrying a girl to a young man she does not want to marry, or the reverse, a young man to a girl?

The questioner : What is the ruling in Islam, in your opinion, regarding marrying a girl to a young man she does not want to marry, or the reverse, a young man to a girl? And if such a marriage takes place, is this marriage valid or not? And are there proofs for the prohibition?

The Shaykh : Marriage is among the noblest of contracts and the greatest in danger and the most significant in impact, due to what follows from it in terms of prohibition of marriage, inheritance, lineage, and other important matters in society. For this reason, it is obligatory to be extremely careful in it. Among the most important things in which one must be careful is that the marriage contract must proceed from the consent of the husband or the wife. It is not permissible to force a wife to marry someone she does not want, whether she is a widow or a virgin, and whether the one contracting the marriage is her father or someone else. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He was asked about how to seek the permission of a virgin, or about how a virgin gives permission, and he said: And in "Sahih Muslim" he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So he specified the virgin and he specified the father. This is clear evidence that no one, even if he is her father, has the right to force his ward to marry someone she does not approve of, even if this suitor is one whose religion and character are pleasing. Because she is the one who knows herself best. However, she should not reject a suitor if he has religion and good character, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Or he said: But if she chooses someone who is not equal to her in religion, then her guardian has the right to prevent the marriage, and there is no blame on him for preventing it in that case. Even if she remains without a husband and she is not pleased except with a husband whose religion is not pleasing, her father has the right to prevent her, based on the implication of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And if she is married to someone she does not approve of, then the marriage is suspended pending her approval. If she approves, the marriage remains as it is. Otherwise, the annulment is obligatory, or otherwise the separation between them is obligatory, because the marriage was not valid. If you say: How is it possible that she is refusing and then approves of it? I say: Yes, it is possible that she was refusing at first, but when she sees that the contract has been completed, she is pleased and approves. But we do not mean by this that it is permissible for her guardian to proceed to marry her while she is reluctant. Rather, that is forbidden for him.
Likewise, the same applies to the husband. It is not permissible to force him to marry someone he does not want, nor is it permissible to pressure him and tighten things on him. For that is a cause for consequences that are not to be praised. It has reached us that some people force their son to marry his sister's daughter, meaning the daughter of the father's brother, who is the son's paternal aunt's daughter. So the son marries her while he is reluctant to the marriage, and then what follows is not to be praised, in that the son holds onto her with reluctance and psychological distress, or he divorces her. In that case, the harm resulting from the divorce after the marriage is more severe than the harm resulting from not marrying. And the common people say, for example, that transferring from the lower rung is better than transferring from the upper rung.