Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man who follows the Mālikī school had a dispute with his wife’s father and appeared before the judge. The husband said to his wife’s father, “If your daughter releases me from liability, I shall divorce her.” Her father replied, “I release you.”

The husband and his wife’s father then appeared before some jurists, and her father released him from liability without her presence or permission. Does the divorce take effect or not?

He answered:

Praise be to Allah.

The underlying issue is disputed among the scholars. The position of Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, according to their well-known, explicitly transmitted rulings, is that a father has no authority to secure a divorce for his daughter in exchange for any of her property, whether or not she is legally restricted from managing it. This is because doing so constitutes a gratuitous disposal of her property, which he has no authority to undertake, just as he has no authority to waive other debts owed to her.

Mālik’s position is that he may secure a divorce in exchange for compensation on behalf of his minor daughter, whether she is a virgin or not, because he has guardianship over her property. It is also reported from him that a father may do so on behalf of his virgin daughter without restriction, because he has the authority to compel her to marry.

It is further reported from him that a father may secure such a divorce on behalf of his daughter without restriction, just as he may marry her off for less than