The Guardian For A Muslim Woman Who Is The Only Muslim In Her Family by Shaykh Ḥasan Ṣomālī

Pivotal Excerpt

❝In this case, the senior scholars have clarified it, and from them are Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymīn, Shaykh Al-Fawzān and others. They say that under these circumstances in the West, where there are no Maḥākim Al-Islāmiyyah (Islamic courts), and there isn’t a Muslim ruler, then the responsibility goes to the Masājid and the Islamic centres.

Question:

If a brother wants to get married to a sister, she is the only Muslim in her family, and she doesn’t have a Muslim maḥram, how should they go about doing the first meeting?

Answer:

We have the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷻ (Shaykh Al-Albānī declared it to be authentic):

فالسلطانُ ولِيُّ مَنْ لَا وَلِيَّ لَهُ

“The Sulṭān (the ruler) would be the guardian of the one who has no guardian.” (Abū Dāwūd 2083; At-Tirmidhī 1102; Ibn Mājah 1880)

The Sulṭān, (the ruler) in a Muslim land would be the guardian (walī) for the one who has no walī. However, it is possible that the questioner doesn’t live in a Muslim land, and they live in the West, whether it be Europe, America or another place. What do we do in these situations? In this case, the senior scholars have clarified it, and from them are Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymīn, Shaykh Al-Fawzān and others. They say that under these circumstances in the West, where there are no Maḥākim Al-Islāmiyyah (Islamic courts), and there isn’t a Muslim ruler, then the responsibility goes to the Masājid and the Islamic centres. So, in your situation, you must go to the Islamic centre in your locality in which they normally have people who represent sisters in this type of predicament.

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