It is said that a woman cannot marry without her guardian's consent. I'm nearly 50 years old and have no family left living. I've been divorced for several years and wish to remarry now. I happen to live in an area where there is no Masjid or any other Muslims for many miles...except one. There is a Muslim convert in the same small town. We wish to marry. We are both of limited income and cannot afford to travel. How do we go about marring?

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. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

The presence of the guardian of a woman is one of the main conditions for the validity of the marriage. The Prophet said: "Any woman who is married off without the consent of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. If he consummates the marriage with her, she becomes entitled to the whole dowry as he made her private parts lawful to him [by having intercourse with her], but if they differed, [those who want to be her guardian as to whom is more entitled to be as such] then the Muslim ruler (or judge) is a guardian for the woman who has no guardian." [Ahmad and Abu Daawood]

The most entitled to marry a woman off is her father, then her grandfather, then her son, then the grandchild no matter how far the line of descent, then her full brother, then her brother from father's side and then the nearest relative.

If the enquiring sister means by her statement "no family left living…" that no family member lives in her country but one of her guardians lives in another country, then he must be present at marriage or he must authorize a Muslim according to Islamic rulings of authorization to complete the marriage contract on his behalf. If she does not have any guardian neither in her country nor in any other country, then she should consult the nearest Islamic center in her area. She should contact them as they will surely help her. If they ask her to come to the center to complete her marriage contract the director of the center becomes her guardian who will marry her off, or they will suggest other suitable solutions. Any way, the presence of a guardian is a compulsory condition for the validity of the marriage.

We advise the sister to relocate to any country where Muslims are in large numbers since it is better for her. Know that the support of Allaah is always with the righteous Muslim community. Moreover, a Muslim may die and he would not have any one who will wash him, shroud him, pray on him and bury him according to Islam.

Allaah Knows best.