Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
If a minor girl marries without the permission and consent of her guardian (walī), and later wishes to marry another man, does she need to obtain a divorce from the first man?
No, she does not need a divorce from the first man because the marriage contract is invalid (bāṭil). A minor girl’s marriage without her walī’s consent is not legally recognized in Islam. Therefore, it does not constitute a valid marriage, and she is free to marry someone else without requiring a formal divorce.
Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reported:
«أيما امرأة نكحت بغير إذن وليها، فنكاحها باطل، نكاحها باطل، نكاحها باطل، فإن دخل بها فلها المهر بما استحل من فرجها، وإن اختلفوا، فالسلطان ولي من لا ولي له»
"Any woman who marries without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. If the man consummates the marriage with her, then she is entitled to the mahr due to him having made her private parts lawful. If there is disagreement (among guardians), then the ruler is the guardian for the one who has no guardian."
Musnad Aḥmad: 6/165,
Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2083,
Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1102,
Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1879,
al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Nasā’ī: 5394,
al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Ṭayālisī,
Musnad Abī Yaʿlā: 2083,
Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī: 3/221,
al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 7/105
Chain: Ḥasan (sound)
Imām Ibn ʿAdī:
“This ḥadīth is of great significance and relied upon in declaring invalid a marriage conducted without a walī.”
al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl: 3/1115
Imām Ibn Ḥibbān titled a chapter:
“On the invalidity of a marriage conducted without a walī.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 9/384
ʿAllāmah al-Manāwī:
Declared the ḥadīth mutawātir (mass-transmitted).
al-Taysīr fī Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr: 2/502
Sayyidunā ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه also said:
“Any woman who marries without her walī’s permission, her marriage is invalid. There is no marriage without the walī's consent.”
al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 7/111 – Chain: Ṣaḥīḥ
① A minor girl’s marriage without her walī’s permission is invalid.
② Such a girl does not require divorce to marry another man later.
③ The ruling is based on authentic prophetic traditions and scholarly consensus.
❖ Question:
If a minor girl marries without the permission and consent of her guardian (walī), and later wishes to marry another man, does she need to obtain a divorce from the first man?
✿ Answer:
No, she does not need a divorce from the first man because the marriage contract is invalid (bāṭil). A minor girl’s marriage without her walī’s consent is not legally recognized in Islam. Therefore, it does not constitute a valid marriage, and she is free to marry someone else without requiring a formal divorce.
❀ Ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ:
Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reported:
«أيما امرأة نكحت بغير إذن وليها، فنكاحها باطل، نكاحها باطل، نكاحها باطل، فإن دخل بها فلها المهر بما استحل من فرجها، وإن اختلفوا، فالسلطان ولي من لا ولي له»
"Any woman who marries without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. If the man consummates the marriage with her, then she is entitled to the mahr due to him having made her private parts lawful. If there is disagreement (among guardians), then the ruler is the guardian for the one who has no guardian."
Musnad Aḥmad: 6/165, Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2083, Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1102, Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1879, al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Nasā’ī: 5394, al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Ṭayālisī, Musnad Abī Yaʿlā: 2083, Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī: 3/221, al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 7/105 Chain: Ḥasan (sound) Authentication of the Ḥadīth:
- Imām al-Tirmidhī and Ibn ʿAsākir: Ḥasan
- Imām Ibn al-Jārūd, Abū ʿAwānah, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Jawzī, and al-Ḥākim: Ṣaḥīḥ
Maʿjam al-Shuyūkh: 234
Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/191
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 4074–4075
al-Tahqīq: 2/255
❀ Scholarly Statements:
Imām Ibn ʿAdī:“This ḥadīth is of great significance and relied upon in declaring invalid a marriage conducted without a walī.”
al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl: 3/1115 Imām Ibn Ḥibbān titled a chapter:“On the invalidity of a marriage conducted without a walī.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 9/384 ʿAllāmah al-Manāwī:Declared the ḥadīth mutawātir (mass-transmitted).
al-Taysīr fī Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr: 2/502 Sayyidunā ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه also said:“Any woman who marries without her walī’s permission, her marriage is invalid. There is no marriage without the walī's consent.”
al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 7/111 – Chain: Ṣaḥīḥ Conclusion:
① A minor girl’s marriage without her walī’s permission is invalid.
② Such a girl does not require divorce to marry another man later.
③ The ruling is based on authentic prophetic traditions and scholarly consensus.
