I and my husband were married for almost 10 years. We have 4 kids. We were married outside of my country because my parents refuse my husband proposal. We were married by an Imaam (before the Nikaah he ask my permission to act as my Wali) and there were 2 witnesses. After marriage I and my husband went back to his home in another country. I called my parents and ask for their forgiveness. My father forgives me right away but not my mother. After I had our first child, my mother forgives me. After 1 and half years of our marriage, I went back to my parents with my husband and the first child and I gave birth to my second child there. After a few months, we came back to our home. I never register my marriage in my country. My question is, is our marriage valid? My husband said that it is valid because my father forgives me and he (my father) allows us to be in his house.

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

A woman who marries without the consent and permission of her guardian has a void marriage because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , said: "Any woman who gets married without the consent of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid." [Abu-Daawood] We have already issued Fatwa 86773 on the ruling of a woman marrying without the consent of her guardian clarifying that such a marriage is void and it is not considered as marriage. So you have to keep apart from each other and renew the marriage contract with the consent of the guardian and two witnesses. Even if the guardian is pleased after the marriage, the marriage contract is still considered void and it should be renewed.

Finally, the following two matters should be mentioned:

1 - The children will be attributed to their father even if the marriage was invalid because the father married believing that this marriage was correct. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, “All scholars agree that any marriage in which the husband believes that it was valid and he consummates the marriage, the children thereof will be traced back to him and they would inherit from each other according to the agreement of all the scholars, even if such a marriage is void according to the agreement of all the scholars.”

2 - The marriage of a woman without the consent of her guardian is valid if he prevents her marrying a competent religious man with good moral character whom she wants to get married to, and they both agree. This has to be proved to the ruler according to some scholars . However, some other scholars stated that a guardian will not be considered as wrongly preventing the marriage unless he refuses a competent religious man with a good moral character more than once.

Allaah Knows best.