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What is the order of guardianship for a Muslim woman who has no guardian in non-Muslim countries, and is it a condition that the guardian be the director of the Islamic center, or can the Imam or any Muslim perform this role, and is the guardian's role limited to marriage only?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Regarding marriage issues concerning Muslim minorities, contemporary scholars have offered differing juristic opinions.

If those in charge of the Islamic center are upright and trustworthy, and the Muslims are in consensus regarding them, and their rulings are implemented, then the center functions as the people of authority (Ahl al-Hall wa al-’Aqd) or the judge. In such a case, it is permissible for the center to solemnize the marriage of a Muslim woman who has no legal guardian (wali shari).

However, if those in charge of the Islamic center are not upright, or the Muslims are not in consensus regarding them, or their rulings are not implemented, then the woman can delegate her marriage affair to an upright man, whether he is the imam of the mosque or another trustworthy Muslim, and her marriage will be valid then.

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

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