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What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding parents' refusal to marry off their daughter, and what should a girl do if a married man proposes to her and her parents reject him, claiming she is not beautiful and not desirous of marriage, and what if the parents prevent the suitor from reaching the girl?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

In marriage, the guardian is the father, and he must marry off his female ward if a suitable suitor whom she accepts comes to her, for the Sharia forbids preventing marriage. If the father prevents his daughter from marrying and rejects suitors for a personal reason, he is considered a sinful oppressor. She then has the right to refer the matter to the Sharia judge, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "If they dispute, then the ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian." As for the brother, he has no guardianship over her as long as the father is present. Suicide is one of the major sins.

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

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