If a girl is forced into marriage, does she have the right to annul the contract?

The questioner : The girl, if she has reached the age of maturity or the age of marriage, rather, how can her guardian force her to marry?

The Shaykh : No, how can he? Because there is no forcing. It is not permissible to force a girl to marry. If she is not of age and is forced to marry, she has the right to request annulment after she reaches maturity. Because a girl was married against her will, and after the marriage she came to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, my father married me to a man I dislike in order to raise his lowly status.

Another questioner : What does that mean?

The Shaykh : It means he has no status, he has no prestige. The father, I mean, when the son-in-law comes, may Allah bless him, he raises his status, so he annulled her marriage. Therefore, it is not permissible for a girl's guardian to force any of his daughters, even if she has reached the age of maturity, and even if she has married and then become a widow, it is not permissible for him to force her. Rather, he must guide her to what is most beneficial for her in this world and the Hereafter. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then he said: And he said: Here are etiquettes and conditions that must be adhered to. Sometimes something occurs that contradicts the Shari'ah. The father may obstruct, meaning he may harm his daughter by delaying her marriage. Why? For material greed. He might say, "This suitor who came is a vagabond, a poor man, he does not raise his lowly status." Or, "So-and-so, by Allah, is good, but he did not agree to pay something in exchange for his daughter's mahr." And so on, every time a suitor comes, he finds a flaw, and the girl will be ruined. In this case, the Shari'ah does not allow her to marry herself, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) said: So this girl we were discussing recently, whose father obstructed her and delayed her marriage for a purely material reason, she should bring her case to the Shari'ah judge. He will send for her guardian. The guardian may sometimes be someone other than the father who does not care about the girl's interest as a father usually does. The Shari'ah judge will send for her guardian and ask him in detail about the reason for his obstruction of her. If he hears from him a Shari'ah reason, such as saying, "So-and-so came to propose to her, and he is, for example, one who abandons prayer," the Shari'ah judge will say, "May Allah have mercy on you." And if another comes, "By Allah, he drinks khamr," he will not say, "Why is this the obligation?" It is not permissible for the guardian to marry his daughter to an open sinner. But if he hears from him reasons that are not Shari'ah reasons, such as what I mentioned earlier, in this case the judge will take over the marriage of her, despite the objection of her guardian, if it becomes clear to the judge that the suitor is a suitable match for her. Suitability has absolutely no relation to anything other than religion, due to his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: So if the judge knows that this suitor is a religious man and a suitable match from this perspective for this Muslim girl, he will take over the marriage contract for him over her, even if her guardian drank the sea. This is how it is.