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Is it permissible for a girl to marry without the consent of her guardian if he refuses to marry her for unacceptable reasons, especially since she is ill and doctors have advised her to marry for her protection?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

According to the majority of scholars, a woman's marriage without a guardian (wali) is invalid, in contrast to Imam Abu Hanifa, and this is the most preponderant view. Therefore, it is not permissible for a woman to marry herself off or for anyone other than her guardian to marry her off. The questioner must persuade her father to expedite her marriage to the suitable man, and seek assistance from some relatives. If the father refuses without a valid reason, he is considered to be preventing her marriage (aadil), and it is permissible for the questioner to refer the matter to the judge to marry her off.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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