If a man wishes to marry outside his country but is unable to travel, and he appoints a man to complete the marriage, is the presence of the agent, the wife's guardian, and the witnesses sufficient?

The questioner : You say: If a person wishes to marry a woman outside his country and is unable to travel, he contacts someone to appoint as his agent to complete the aforementioned marriage. Is the presence of the aforementioned agent, the woman's guardian, and the witnesses sufficient to complete the contract?

The Shaykh : Yes. First, I see that a person should not marry from outside his country except out of extreme necessity, because it is not in the social interest that we leave our women and go to bring women from abroad. Rather, we should be patient and marry from among our women. The one who is not destined to marry this year will marry the next year, and praise be to Allah. As for going abroad, with the problems that occur—sometimes many problems arise when you go abroad. You say, "Come, give me a gift for my mother, for my father," "Yes, take me every six months," and so on. These are problems that we know from what we hear from people or what is presented to us in fatwas. We say, "Be patient, my brother, marry from the women of the country." But the problem is that the women of the country have become commodities. What does "commodities" mean? It means that the father controls them. A good man, one who is good in his religion and character, comes and says, "Marry me to her." He says, "How much will you give me?" He says, "I will give you twenty thousand, or I will prepare her: I will bring a bedroom, jewelry, and so on, and this is what I will give you." He says, "No, I want twenty thousand for myself, ten thousand for her mother, five thousand for her aunt, and four thousand for what? And I also want a car for the sheep, yes, and I also want a water truck. Glory be to Allah, it has become a great village. This is absolutely not permissible, never. The woman's mahr is for her only. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: meaning without any gift from them It is not their fathers or their brothers or their awliya (close friends of Allah) And He the Mighty and Majestic said: What? If they forgive, the mahr returns to the husband in full, and if the husband forgives, the mahr returns to the wife in full. In any case, I advise that a person not marry from abroad except out of necessity. If there is a necessity, there is no harm. If he is able to go himself, he should do so; otherwise, let him appoint someone he trusts to contract the marriage for him. But how does he say it at the time of the contract? The woman's guardian says: "I have married my client, so-and-so, to my daughter, so-and-so." And the agent says: "I have accepted this marriage for my client, so-and-so." But what if he appointed him to marry a woman for him, and when the contract was held, the agent seemed to desire it and said: "I have married my client, so-and-so, to so-and-so." He said: "I have accepted it for myself." Is this valid or not? This contract is not valid. Why? Because now the guardian has released the contract to whom? To the client. And this one accepted it for himself, and he is the agent. But if he said, "I have married you to my daughter," and he said, "I have accepted," the wife belongs to whom? To the agent. Yes. Yes, please proceed.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.