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What is the ruling on marrying a sane woman who is not a virgin without the knowledge of her guardian, and after the offer and acceptance, two witnesses are called via telephone who did not hear the offer and acceptance?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of scholars stipulated the guardian (wali) as a condition for the validity of marriage, and this is the most preponderant opinion due to the strength of its evidence. However, according to Abu Hanifa, marriage is valid without a guardian. If the marriage contract is concluded by emulating his madhhab, then it is enforceable. Nevertheless, marriage without witnesses is not valid according to his madhhab. As for witnessing via phone, contemporary scholars have differed on this matter. The Malikis differed from the majority regarding witnessing, permitting the contract without immediate witnessing, provided that witnessing takes place before consummation. The questioner is advised to present their case to a Sharia court or to trustworthy scholars. The guardian is a condition for the validity of marriage, and marriage is a significant matter that Allah called a "solemn covenant" (ميثاقًا غليظًا). It pertains to private parts, which are originally forbidden, thus requiring careful investigation and adherence to the controls of Islamic law.

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

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