What is the ruling on the marriage of a woman who has no guardian, and is it customary or religious?
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The questioner : O esteemed Shaykh, you spoke about marriage just now. In Jeddah, there are many expatriates of various nationalities who perform these marriages. I do not know whether the marriage is considered customary or religious?
The Shaykh : What kind of marriage?
The questioner : The marriage is such that the woman, in most cases, has no guardian, and they marry like this without a guardian.
The Shaykh : She married herself?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The reality is that this is not a problem. That is to say, if women come to the country as expatriates without their guardians, there is no problem, because the matter is presented to the Shari'ah court. The ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian, and the ruler's deputy acts in the place of the ruler. The Shari'ah judge has the authority to marry off a woman who has no guardian, and he has the authority to marry off a woman who has a guardian but who refuses to marry her to a suitable suitor who has proposed to her. We, students of knowledge, must also pay attention to this issue: some guardians, may Allah protect us from that, consider their daughters or sisters to be like livestock. They buy and sell them, haggle over them, and prevent a person who is suitable in his religion and character from marrying them because he does not like him, and this is forbidden.
If this prevention is repeated by him, he becomes an open sinner and loses his integrity. His testimony is not accepted, and he is not accepted as an imam for the people, so he does not lead people in prayer according to the opinion of some scholars, 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 tell him: You are safe, you have no guardianship. We then 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 do so.
If the other guardians refuse, the matter 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 prevent her.
So the result is that these expatriate women can, and indeed it is obligatory for them if they wish to marry, to go to the court and explain the situation to the Shari'ah judge, and he in turn will marry them off.
The questioner : And what if it is without the Shari'ah judge, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : If it is without a guardian, the marriage is defective 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:Sunan Ibn Majah 1880Sahih (Darussalam) 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.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ... in the Jeddah committee ...
The Shaykh : That is it. The contract must be renewed by the hand of the Shari'ah judge, the Shari'ah ruler.
The Shaykh : What kind of marriage?
The questioner : The marriage is such that the woman, in most cases, has no guardian, and they marry like this without a guardian.
The Shaykh : She married herself?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The reality is that this is not a problem. That is to say, if women come to the country as expatriates without their guardians, there is no problem, because the matter is presented to the Shari'ah court. The ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian, and the ruler's deputy acts in the place of the ruler. The Shari'ah judge has the authority to marry off a woman who has no guardian, and he has the authority to marry off a woman who has a guardian but who refuses to marry her to a suitable suitor who has proposed to her. We, students of knowledge, must also pay attention to this issue: some guardians, may Allah protect us from that, consider their daughters or sisters to be like livestock. They buy and sell them, haggle over them, and prevent a person who is suitable in his religion and character from marrying them because he does not like him, and this is forbidden.
If this prevention is repeated by him, he becomes an open sinner and loses his integrity. His testimony is not accepted, and he is not accepted as an imam for the people, so he does not lead people in prayer according to the opinion of some scholars, 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 tell him: You are safe, you have no guardianship. We then 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 do so.
If the other guardians refuse, the matter 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 prevent her.
So the result is that these expatriate women can, and indeed it is obligatory for them if they wish to marry, to go to the court and explain the situation to the Shari'ah judge, and he in turn will marry them off.
The questioner : And what if it is without the Shari'ah judge, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : If it is without a guardian, the marriage is defective 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.
لا نكاح إلا بوليThe questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ... in the Jeddah committee ...
The Shaykh : That is it. The contract must be renewed by the hand of the Shari'ah judge, the Shari'ah ruler.