"If the closest guardian obstructs or is not qualified"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : He then said: "If the closest guardian obstructs". The father obstructs, meaning he prevents. If he prevents the closest guardian from marrying his ward, saying, "I will not marry her off," the guardianship transfers to another, unless there is a legitimate Shari'ah reason that necessitates his refusal. If there is a legitimate Shari'ah reason, he is not compelled to proceed... An example of this is when a man proposes to a woman who is known for bad character, yes, for lacking in religion, while the entire community, or the majority of it, is better than him. I said "the entire community, or the majority" so that it would not be objected to that if the community's level were the same as the suitor's level—meaning if the community's level were on the suitor's level—then here we say she is to be married off, as long as he has not committed disbelief. For instance, if we assume that most of the community smokes or most of the community shaves their beards, do we reject this? We do not know when someone will come to us who is one in a thousand, not shaving his beard and not smoking. The answer is: we do not prevent him, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: [At-Taghabun 64:16] Just as if we do not find a ruler except a sinner, we appoint the most righteous of the two sinners, so it is with this. But if this man commits a rare sin in the community, and then the closest guardian says, "I will not marry off to this man; this one drinks alcohol, this one uses narcotics, and the like," then he has the right, and no one may marry her off if the closest guardian refuses. If he refuses and says, "I reject this suitor because there was a misunderstanding between them in the past, and I cannot marry my daughter, sister, or aunt to him," what do we say? Is he an obstructing guardian or not?
The questioner : It is obstruction.
The Shaykh : This is a guardian who prevents [marriage], and the guardianship transfers to another because he prevented [her] without right. Now, his statement in the commentary restricts the issue in a strange way. He said: "by preventing a suitable match whom she accepted and desiring what is a valid mahr".
A suitable match: if he means in terms of his religion, then yes; if he means in terms of his status, then no. Similarly, his statement "and desiring what is a valid mahr": the suitor desires [her] and pays a valid mahr; we say yes, because if he does not pay a valid mahr, this marriage would be a marriage by gift, and a gift is only for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
He said: "or he was not worthy". To whom does the pronoun "he" refer?
The questioner : The suitor.
The Shaykh : O brothers, it refers to the guardian, meaning: or if the closest guardian is not qualified, such as if he is an open sinner, a disbeliever, a madman, or the like, or a child.
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فاتقوا الله ما استطعتمThe questioner : It is obstruction.
The Shaykh : This is a guardian who prevents [marriage], and the guardianship transfers to another because he prevented [her] without right. Now, his statement in the commentary restricts the issue in a strange way. He said: "by preventing a suitable match whom she accepted and desiring what is a valid mahr".
A suitable match: if he means in terms of his religion, then yes; if he means in terms of his status, then no. Similarly, his statement "and desiring what is a valid mahr": the suitor desires [her] and pays a valid mahr; we say yes, because if he does not pay a valid mahr, this marriage would be a marriage by gift, and a gift is only for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
He said: "or he was not worthy". To whom does the pronoun "he" refer?
The questioner : The suitor.
The Shaykh : O brothers, it refers to the guardian, meaning: or if the closest guardian is not qualified, such as if he is an open sinner, a disbeliever, a madman, or the like, or a child.