seeks this pleasure, this desire, yet prevents the young woman from having what he himself desires—or perhaps desires even more. Were it not for modesty and fear of Allah, many young women would fall into great evils. So how can he prevent her?! How can he satisfy himself with bread and meat while leaving his daughter or sister to die of hunger?! The hunger of sexual desire may be more intense than the hunger of the stomach, though both are necessities for a human being.

For this reason, students of knowledge must warn against guardians unlawfully preventing women from marriage, and they must make clear to people that such an obstructing guardian deserves no honor. Indeed, the scholars have stated that if he repeatedly prevents marriage, he becomes morally corrupt: his testimony is not accepted, nor is his guardianship, nor any role for which uprightness is stipulated. If students of knowledge spread such information among the people, they may initially find it objectionable, and a brother may say, “How can I marry her off while my father is still present?!” But if this is repeated, and then a courageous brother marries her off despite the presence of his father, who has unlawfully prevented her marriage, the people will follow suit. People only need someone to open the door. Otherwise, the matter is in a state of crisis: several men may propose to a woman—up to thirty men—yet her guardian still prevents her marriage because of some personal issue between himself and the suitor, or out of envy toward his daughter: “How could such a virtuous man propose to her?!” Or the girl may be employed and he takes her salary; then, when she says, “Father, give me my salary,” he replies, “You and your property belong to your father!”

However, if there is a legally valid reason requiring him to refuse, then the more distant guardian may not marry her off. For example, a woman may be proposed to by a man known for deficient religious commitment, while the entire community—or most of it—is better than he is. I said, “the entire community—or most of it,” lest it be objected that if the standard of the community were at such a level—that is: