Is a virgin girl, who secretly married a young man in the presence of a wali (guardian) and two witnesses, with the mahr (dowry) and mu'akhar (deferred dowry) specified but without official documentation, validly married? When the young man informed his family to formalize the marriage, they refused, and he then divorced her, and she received the mu'akhar. She asks about the validity of this marriage and requests a clear fatwa because she is bewildered.

Praise be to Allah. We clarify that leniency in the relationship between a man and a non-mahram woman leads to corruption, and one must repent and not return to it. Furthermore, marriage without the guardian's knowledge is invalid because the guardian is a condition for the validity of the marriage according to the majority of scholars. Since the divorce has occurred, the objective has been achieved. If the family agrees in the future, the marriage contract must be renewed with the guardian's permission and in the presence of witnesses, with the wife being entitled to the dowry specified in the previous contract, according to many scholars.