❖ Question:
Is a marriage valid with witnesses and mahr but without the permission of the guardian (walī)?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
✿ Answer:
A marriage is not valid without the permission or consent of the guardian (walī). Having witnesses, mahr, and ijāb-o-qubūl (offer and acceptance) is not sufficient on its own. The permission of the walī is one of the conditions of nikāḥ.
◈ Evidence from Qur’an
وَإِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَبَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَلَا تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ أَنْ يَنكِحْنَ أَزْوَاجَهُنَّ
(al-Baqarah: 232)
Imām Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī رحمه الله explained:
This verse proves that a woman cannot contract her marriage by herself. If she could, the prohibition of preventing her by the guardian would be meaningless.
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 2/488)
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله also wrote:
“This verse proves that a woman cannot marry herself; the presence of a walī is necessary.”
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 1/564)
◈ Evidence from Ḥadīth
Sayyidunā Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا نكاح إلا بولي
“There is no marriage without a guardian.”
(al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim: 2/173, ḥadīth 2717 – sanad ḥasan, and ṣaḥīḥ according to many imams)
This hadith has been declared ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan by numerous scholars, including Ibn Ḥibbān, Ibn al-Madīnī, al-Bazzār, al-Ḥākim, and adh-Dhahabī. Al-Manāwī رحمه الله even described it as mutawātir.
(al-Taysīr: 2/502; Fayḍ al-Qadīr: 6/437)
Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Any woman who marries without the permission of her walī, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 2083; Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1879; Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1102 – sanad ḥasan)
If consummation takes place, the woman will be entitled to mahr, but the marriage itself is not valid.
◈ Consensus of the Ummah
Imām Ibn al-Mundhir رحمه الله stated:
“There are multiple authentic narrations from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Companions establishing the necessity of a walī for nikāḥ. We do not know of any Companion who opposed this.”
(al-Awsaṭ: 8/268)
Conclusion:
- A marriage without a walī is invalid in Sharīʿah.
- This is proven by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the ijmāʿ of the Ummah.
- The consent of the woman is also required, but the contract must be through her walī.
