Salaam Alaykum, I am a divorced muslim american woman who is engaged to an egyptian muslim man. I would like to go to Egypt to marry him. All of my family are Christian..my mother is ok and is very happy about the marriage and my father does not care either way. I know I need to have a male family member "give me away", but I have no male family member who will come with me. Is there still any way that I can marry my fiance properly in Egypt? I married previously in Egypt at the Ministry of Justice and the marriage papers were filed, but I want to make sure to do it right. Jazek Allah hirun for your help.

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.

There are certain conditions for the validity of a marriage contract in Islam; among the most important of which are the bride’s Wali (guardian) and two witnesses. Please refer to Fatwa 83629 about the conditions for the validity of the marriage contract.

We have also previously clarified that if a Muslim woman does not have a Muslim Wali, then a Muslim judge from the Islamic court can act as her Wali, or she may authorize a trustworthy Muslim man to be her Wali in the marriage contract. Please refer to Fatwa 88488.

In principle, it is impermissible for a Muslim woman to travel alone without a Mahram. It should be noted that the bride’s presence is not a requirement for concluding the marriage contract. You may send a formal authorization to the man you wish to appoint as your Wali. But if you have to travel in order to live with your husband and could not find a Mahram man to accompany you, then there is no harm in you travelling without a Mahram in this case. You should, however, seek trustworthy company in your journey. Some scholars consider it permissible for a woman to travel without a Mahram in certain cases, one of which is migrating from a non-Muslim country to a Muslim one. For more benefit, kindly refer to Fatwa 126312.

Allaah Knows best.