Back to search

Is it permissible to marry a woman whose guardian has apostatized?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman is married by her guardian, who is her father. If the father is absent, or not qualified for guardianship, or is an oppressor, then she is married, in order: by her grandfather, then her son, however low in descent, then her full brother, then her half-brother (by the father), then their sons, however low in descent, then her paternal uncles. It is permissible for the guardian to delegate another, provided that the delegate is qualified for guardianship. It is not valid for an apostate to marry a woman, and a Muslim man should undertake the delegation. If the woman does not have a righteous guardian to marry her, the Muslim judge marries her with her permission, based on the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying: "The ruler is the guardian of the one who has no guardian."

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy