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Is it permissible for a virgin girl who is not older than 21 years of age to marry a man who has not been legally married before, despite her guardian's refusal?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a father refuses to marry off his daughter, there are two scenarios: The first is that he prevents her from marrying a specific person. In this case, she does not have the right to marry that person, as the father's opinion is given precedence in Islamic law.

The second is that he prevents her from marrying altogether, rejecting every suitable suitor, or demanding un-Islamic qualities such as wealth. In this case, she has the right to refer her matter to the judges, so that they may marry her off or compel her father.

This detailed explanation assumes that the father is sane and رشيد (of sound judgment). Otherwise, guardianship would transfer to the next closest guardian, then to the Sharia courts, and if those are absent, then to the Muslim community.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy