decisive weight to the father’s choice advances a view whose corruption, harm, and evil are plain. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in an authentic hadith:

“A previously married woman has more right concerning herself than her guardian, while a virgin must be asked for her permission, and her silence is her permission.”

Another narration states:

“A woman who has previously been married has more right concerning herself than her guardian.”

They argue that, since he gave the previously married woman greater right concerning herself, this indicates that a virgin does not have greater right concerning herself; rather, her guardian has greater right, and this applies only to the father and grandfather. This is the principal argument of those who permit compulsion. Yet they have abandoned the hadith’s explicit wording and apparent meaning, clinging instead to its implied converse, without understanding the Messenger’s intent, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

For his statement, “A previously married woman has more right concerning herself than her guardian,” encompasses every guardian, whereas they restrict it to the father and grandfather.

Second, he said, “A virgin must be asked for her permission.” Yet they do not regard seeking her permission as obligatory; rather, they say it is recommended. Some even carried their analogy to its logical conclusion, saying that silence suffices because seeking permission is merely recommended, and claiming that wherever seeking a virgin’s permission is obligatory, she must speak. Some followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad expressed this view. It contradicts the consensus of the Muslims before them and the explicit statements of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. For the authentic, widely transmitted Sunnah and the agreement of the imams before these scholars establish that when a virgin’s brother or paternal uncle arranges her marriage, he must seek her permission, and her silence is her permission.

As for the implied converse, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, distinguished between a virgin and a previously married woman, as he said in another hadith:

“A virgin must not be married until her permission is sought, nor a previously married woman until she is consulted.”

For the former, he used the term “permission,” and for the latter, the term “instruction.” He made silence the permission of the former, just as speech constitutes the permission of the latter. These, then, are the two distinctions that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, drew between a virgin