He replied:

“If he is under legal interdiction on account of his imprudence, his marriage is not valid without his father’s permission, and the couple must be separated. If they are separated before consummation, he owes nothing. If, however, he is of sound judgment, his marriage is valid even without his father’s permission.

“If the spouses disagree over whether he was of sound judgment or imprudent when he married, the word of the party maintaining that the marriage is valid is accepted.”

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

“A man proposed to a woman who had a son. The marriage officiant, who was a Mālikī, requested the son’s presence, but he was unable to attend. Another man was brought in and gave the officiant his consent to her marriage. Is the contract valid?”

He replied:

“This contract is not valid, because her son is her marriage guardian. If he is present and does not refuse, she may not be married without his permission. If, however, he is far away, guardianship passes to a more distant guardian or to the judge.

“Had a Shāfiʿī married her off, believing that her son had no right of guardianship, this would have been a matter open to juristic interpretation. But the person who married her off was a Mālikī who believed that only her son could give her in marriage. Thus, if he was deceived and someone whom he believed to be her son gave her in marriage, while this judge neither married her off by virtue of his own authority nor was she married under the authority of a guardian entitled to it through kinship or ties of manumission, then she was married without any guardian’s permission whatsoever. Such a marriage is invalid according to the majority of scholars, as the scriptural texts establish.”

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

“A woman’s brother left her in a place to complete the waiting period following the end of her marriage. When the waiting period ended, she fled to a town a day’s journey away and married without her brother’s permission, although she had no guardian other than him. Is the contract valid or not?”