or, among the Bedouin, by their tribal elder, or by the village headman.
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The Shaykh said: Parents have no right to oblige their son or daughter to marry someone the child does not wish to marry, and the child is not deemed undutiful by refusing—no more than he would be for declining food he dislikes.
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The Shaykh favoured the view that a nine-year-old girl—whether virgin or previously married—may not be compelled; neither her father nor anyone else may marry her off without her permission. This is a report from Aḥmad: “Once a girl reaches nine years of age, her father or anyone else may not marry her off except with her consent.” Some later scholars said: this is the stronger opinion.
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Shaykh al-Islām also said: Having witnesses to the woman’s permission is not a condition for the validity of the contract according to the overwhelming majority of scholars. Only an isolated dissent appears in the schools of Aḥmad and al-Shāfiʿī, yet the well-known position in both aligns with the majority—that it is not required. Nevertheless, the witnesses to the marriage should, before the contract, witness the bride’s consent for three reasons:
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So that the contract’s validity will be unanimously acknowledged.
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To guard against later denial.
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Lest the guardian be lying when he claims her permission and satisfaction.
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We noted earlier that, on the soundest view, a guardian is a prerequisite for the validity of the marriage contract, and that a marriage concluded without a guardian is invalid, owing to textual proofs that have reached the level of tawātur (mass transmission). A woman’s judgment is limited, and no one safeguards her interests like her guardian, who strives to secure for her a righteous husband and seeks what is best in whoever accepts her hand. One of the conditions of guardianship is maleness; a woman cannot serve as a marriage guardian, for if she is deemed unfit to act on her own behalf, how could she act on behalf of someone else?
Scholarly differences:
There is no disagreement among the scholars that a mature, sane woman who has been previously married may not be forced into marriage, and the evidence for this is explicit in the texts.
Nor is there any disagreement that a virgin under nine has no say in the matter; therefore her father