Can a Girl Without a Guardian (Walī) Marry Through the Court?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī
❖ Question:
If a girl has no guardian (walī) or close relative, can she marry through the court?
✿ Answer:
If a girl has no walī (guardian) or close relative, she may contract her nikāḥ through the court (i.e., judge or ruler acting as her walī).
◈ Prophetic Evidence
Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«أَيُّمَا امْرَأَةٍ نَكَحَتْ بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِ وَلِيِّهَا، فَنِكَاحُهَا بَاطِلٌ، فَنِكَاحُهَا بَاطِلٌ، فَنِكَاحُهَا بَاطِلٌ، فَإِنْ دَخَلَ بِهَا فَلَهَا الْمَهْرُ بِمَا اسْتَحَلَّ مِنْ فَرْجِهَا، فَإِنْ اشْتَجَرُوا فَالسُّلْطَانُ وَلِيُّ مَنْ لَا وَلِيَّ لَهُ»
“Any woman who marries without the permission of her walī, her marriage is invalid, invalid, invalid. If the man consummates with her, she is entitled to the dowry because he made her lawful to himself. If the guardians dispute, then the ruler is the walī of the one who has no walī.”
(Musnad Aḥmad 6/165; Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2083; Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1102; Sunan Ibn Mājah 1879; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Nasāʾī 5394; Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī 3/221; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 7/105 – ḥasan isnād)
- Imām al-Tirmidhī and Ibn ʿAsākir graded it ḥasan.
- Imām Ibn al-Jārūd, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Jawzī, and al-Ḥākim graded it ṣaḥīḥ.
◈ Ruling Derived
- A marriage without a walī is invalid.
- If a girl has no walī, then the ḥākim (ruler, judge, or appointed authority) acts as her walī.
- This includes the qāḍī (judge) in a court or even a local head (sar-panch) in a village setting.
Conclusion:A girl who has no walī or heir may validly marry through the court/judge acting as her walī, based on the Prophetic command.
