Source:Excerpted from Aḥkām wa Masā’il Kitāb wa Sunnat kī Roshnī mein by Shaykh Mubashar Ahmad Rabbānī
Question:What are the Islamic rulings regarding court marriage?
Answer:In today’s society, various Jewish organizations, movements raised in the name of women’s freedom, and professors and lawyers who obtain Islamic studies degrees under the influence of Jews and Christians are collectively playing their roles in promoting immorality, indecency, and shamelessness among the Muslim Ummah.
If a boy and a girl, driven by infatuation and illicit relationships, run away from home, they often find support from the police and so-called courts. They attempt to legitimize this wrongdoing by entering into a marriage contract without the permission of a walī (guardian). At present, the trend of young girls rebelling and fleeing from their homes has become widespread.
Unfortunately, some so-called scholars even provide justification for such acts. By supporting these unfortunate and wayward girls, they ignore the honor and helplessness of respectable and noble parents.
However, even in this dark era, there are still some upright judges who, while sitting on court benches, discourage such immoral behavior and issue correct verdicts based on the evidences from the Qur’an and Sunnah. Yet, such individuals are extremely rare.
In most courts, the prevailing judgment is that if a boy and a girl elope and express their intent to live as a married couple—whether before a court or even just in the presence of the police—then this is considered a valid marriage.
In contrast, according to the Qur’an and Sunnah, such a marriage is invalid.
The reason for this invalidity is that in such a case, the girl enters into marriage without the permission of her walī (guardian). It has already been established in previous discussions that in Islamic law, a marriage conducted without the guardian’s permission is invalid and impermissible.
⚖ Important Principle:
"A marriage without the walī is invalid according to the Sharī‘ah."
