Fatwa ID: 07093
Answered by: Mufti Mohammed Haroon Hussain
Question:
A couple got married at the age of 20+ without guardians at the kazi office. Later both their family guardians found out. At first they didn’t accept it but later they granted permission. My question is that is this marriage legal according to Islam? If not, what will we do? I have heard one hadith which says that without a guardian the marriage is not legal and here neither of us had a guardian.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Your marriage is valid and sound because you were both above the age of maturity and the marriage of a mature person can be conducted by themselves1.
The purpose of the guardian (wali) is to ensure that the person gets their benefits and interests in the marriage and is not getting into a bad situation. That is why, if the guardians find the match to be incompatible or such that it would cause their family disgrace for there to be such a match, they can approach the Islamic court and have the marriage annulled. However, you have stated that they later granted permission, so that will not be an issue2.
The hadith you are referring to is taken by Imam Shafi’ee and Imam Malik rahimahumullah as being proof of the marriage not being valid without a wali. However, the Hanafi School takes its evidence from the ayaat of Surah Baqarah (230-234) in the Glorious Qur’an which point towards the marriage done by a lady to be valid in and of itself: 3
فَلا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنْفُسِهِنَّ
حَتَّى تَنْكِحَ زَوْجًا غَيْرَهُ
أَنْ يَنْكِحْنَ أَزْوَاجَهُنَّ
All 3 of these phrases indicate that the lady does the marriage herself. Therefore, the Hanafi School always put the injunctions of the Glorious Qur’an above Hadith if there appears to be a contradiction. So, in this case we would say that it is better to have a wali present for all sorts of reasons, but the marriage will still be sound.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Mufti Mohammed Haroon Hussain
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
1 وينعقد نكاح الحرة العاقلة البالغة برضاها) وإن لم يعقد عليها ولي بكرا كانت أو ثيبا (عند أبي حنيفة وأبي يوسف) رحمهما الله (في ظاهر الرواية. وعن أبي يوسف) (أنه لا ينعقد إلا بولي. وعند محمد ينعقد وقوفا) وقال مالك والشافعي رحمهما الله لا ينعقد النكاح بعبارة النساء أصلا لأن النكاح يراد لمقاصده والتفويض إليهن مخل بها
العناية شرح الهداية – جلد 3 – ص 256 – باب الأولياء والأكفاء – دار الكتب العلمية
2 الا ان محمد يقول: يرتفع الخلل باجازة الولى
الهداية – جلد 2 – ص 23 – باب في الاولياء والاكفاء – المكتبة البشرى
3 وأما السنة فما روي في السنن عن ابن جريج عن سليمان بن موسى عن الزهري عن عروة عن عائشة قالت: قال رسول الله – ﷺ – أيما امرأة نكحت بغير إذن وليها فنكاحها باطل باطل باطل- فالجواب أن الآية مشتركة الإلزام لأنه نهاهم عن منعهن عن النكاح فدل على أنهن يملكنه، وأن
وأن قوله تعالى ﴿فلا جناح عليكم فيما فعلن في أنفسهن﴾ وقوله ﴿حتى تنكح زوجا غيره﴾ وإنما يطالب الولي بالتزويج كي لا تنسب إلى الوقاحة، ثم في ظاهر الرواية لا فرق بين الكفء وغير الكفء ولكن للولي الاعتراض في غير الكفء.
العناية شرح الهداية – جلد 3 – ص 258 – باب الأولياء والأكفاء – دار الكتب العلمية
