She did not consult her Christian father when she got married Fatwa No: 235498
- Fatwa Date:21-1-2014
Salaamu aleykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh I have a question about a wali. I got married to my husband 3,5 years ago. Back then I wasn't a muslim, though I had opened my heart to islam but not made shahadah yet. I also wasn't a christian. We got married in a masjid with 2 witnesses and a local imaam. Now that I know more about islam, I have started to wonder wether I had a wali present or not and does this mean that our marriage is not valid according to shariah? Here in Finland we don't need permissions from our parents to get married, so I didn't consult my father( he is a christian) when I got married, since I know that he wouldn't have come there to give me away, it is just not part of his character. Now both me and my husband, we are practising muslims and we have one son. Is our marriage valid in shariah or should we renew the marriage contract and should I arrange myself a wali for it? Please advice me, because if there is any error in the sight of shariah, I want to fix it in sha Allaah. Jazaakum Allaahu khayran!
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger. If you were a Muslim at the time of marriage contract, then you should know that the presence (and consent) of the Wali (bride's guardian) is a condition for the validity of the marriage contract according to the preferred opinion of the jurists; please refer to Fatwa 83629. If a non-Muslim woman turns Muslim and does not have a Muslim guardian, then organizations such as Islamic centers which examine the affairs of Muslims should stand in as her Wali. If there is no such organization, then she should appoint a trustworthy Muslim man as her Wali as we have already clarified in Fatwa 83008. Thus, if it was the Imaam of the Masjid who stood in as your Wali [and you were Muslim], then the marriage is valid. But if his role was only to dictate to you the words that you should utter and you married yourself off by yourself, then the marriage is invalid. However, the children born out of this marriage are to bear their father's name because there is some dubiousness in the case as clarified in Fatwa 126168. On the other hand, if you were a non-Muslim at the time of marriage contract], then we would like to stress that it is not permissible for a Muslim man to marry a non-Muslim woman unless she is both from the People of the Book and chaste. For more details, kindly refer to Fatwa 84456. In any case, if you wish to continue the marriage, then it is obligatory to renew the contract in a correct and valid manner. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 126160. Allaah Knows best.