Was Our Marriage Valid without the Permission of the Girl’s Guardian?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is a marriage valid between two people who were in an illicit relationship and then married without the consent of the wife-to-be’s guardian (wali)?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

It is a blessed thing that you both have repented from your illicit relationship and sought to rectify it through marriage.

Even though you married without the prior consent of your now-wife’s guardian, the marriage is valid. [Maydani, al-Lubab]

The fact that your in-laws have later consented and accepted your marriage further enforces the marriage.

It is not a condition of the validity of marriage that you repent from your sinful relationship before marriage. With that being said, your remorse and seeking to make your relationship permissible by marriage is indicative of repentance.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Repentance is remorse.” [Ahmad, Ibn Majah]

This means that remorse is the foundation of repentance.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.