—the same order that determines inheritance shares. This is because the guardianship of marriage calls for compassion and vigilant concern for the woman’s welfare; hence closeness of kinship and the other conditions stipulated for the walī exist to secure the benefits of marriage and avert its harms.

6 – If a more distant relative acts as guardian and arranges the woman’s marriage while a nearer guardian is available, the scholars have differed: some say the marriage is null and void, others say it is valid, and yet others hold that the nearer guardian may either approve it or have it annulled. The root of the disagreement lies in whether the prescribed order of guardianship is a purely divine legal ruling—so that the contract never takes effect and must be annulled—or a legal ruling that is also the personal right of the walī, in which case the contract is concluded but remains pending the walī’s decision: if he ratifies it, it stands; if he refuses, it is dissolved.

7 – Once we know that a marriage without a walī is defective (fāsid), any contract concluded without one is not recognized as a lawful marriage and must be dissolved by a judge or ended by the husband’s divorce. A disputed marriage requires dissolution or divorce, whereas a void (bāṭil) marriage does not.
The distinction is as follows: a void marriage is one on whose invalidity the scholars unanimously agree, such as marrying a fifth wife while already married to four, or marrying someone like one’s wife’s sister. This is unanimously void and therefore needs no formal dissolution. A defective marriage, by contrast, is one whose validity is disputed—such as a marriage without a guardian or without witnesses—and must be dissolved by a judge or terminated by divorce.

8 – If consummation occurs under a void or defective contract, the woman is entitled to a mahr equivalent to that of her peers, in recompense for the enjoyment taken from her.

9 – If a woman has no guardian among her relatives or former patrons, her guardian is the ruler (imām) or his deputy, for “the authority is the guardian of one who has no guardian.”