What are the reasons and evidences upon which Abu Hanifa based his ruling that a woman may marry without a guardian, despite the hadith: "Any woman who marries without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, invalid, invalid"? And is such a marriage considered zina (adultery/fornication)?

The majority of scholars hold that the guardian (wali) is a condition for the validity of marriage. However, the Hanafis maintain that marriage is valid without a guardian, citing the Holy Quran, such as His (Allah's) saying: "So there is no blame upon you for what they do with themselves," and the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "A woman who has been previously married has more right concerning herself than her guardian." They argue that a free, adult, sane woman has guardianship over herself.

As for the hadiths cited by the majority, such as "There is no marriage except with a guardian," the Hanafis countered them by stating that they are contradicted by hadiths with stronger chains of narration, or that they are interpreted as negating perfection, or that the term "guardian" refers to someone who has the authority to prevent the marriage of a disbeliever to a Muslim woman, and so on.

According to the majority, a marriage without a guardian is "invalid," meaning it is not sound and must be annulled. It differs from fornication in that there is no prescribed punishment (hadd) for it, and the children born from such a marriage are attributed to the husband.