A woman is entitled to her Mahr even if she married without a guardian

29-10-2013 | IslamWeb

Question:

i married a man without the permission of my parents/guardian. My husbands only guardian, his mother permitted us to marry. we married infront of qazi and 2 male adult witnesses (our friends).in my 1.5 years marriage i had a baby. then we got divorced. now,My ex-husband denies to pay my mohr saying our marriage was invalid. i want to know if our marriage really was invalid one?? in view of islam, does it release him from paying my mohr?? does he still owe me my mohr??

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Answer:

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.

According to the preponderant opinion of the scholars of Fiqh, the presence of the guardian is a precondition for the validity of the marriage contract as we have pointed out in Fatwa 83629. If the marriage is done without the permission of the guardian, then it is invalid.

However, if the contract of marriage was concluded by a Qaadhi (Islamic judge) who follows the Mathhab (school of jurisprudence) of Imaam Abu Haneefah, then the marriage is valid without a guardian, as clarified in Fatwa 130284.

Whether that marriage is valid or not, the Mahr (dowry) is obligatory upon your husband. Scholars of Fiqh stated that the marriage whose validity is doubted after it has been consummated brings about the effects of the valid marriage. The same thing applies to the children, i.e. they are attributed to the husband and he is obliged to spend on them. For more benefit, kindly refer to Fataawa 86773 and 106473.

Allaah Knows best.