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Fatwa CenterWife's father said he never authorized marriage
Question
As salaamu Alaykum brother in islam , My wife went to her father to seek permission to marry me. The father gave permission to his grandson to stand in for him as the Wali. My wife has been married twice before marrying me. The 1st husband died and second there was divorce which now has passed 3 yrs. My wifes step-mother is very difficult and she does not allow my wife to speak to her father on a regular basis. So on Jummah at the masjid she asked her father for his permissiom and he granted it. This past Saturday we performed the Nikkah . Today my wife tells me her father said he did not give his grandson permission to stand in for him. He now states that he meant if he was dead his grandson would assume the role as wali for his mother. Her son is 18yrs. When my wife told me last week her father made no mention of being dead. He gave his blessing. Now he tells my wife we must perform the Nikkah again. In this matter is the Nikkah required again and is our marriage invalid. Inshallah I will wait to hear for you. As salaam alaykum.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
If the situation is as you mentioned - that the father denied authorizing your wife's adult son to act on his behalf as her Wali (guardian) in marriage, then by default, he did not authorize him until the opposite is proven, pursuant to the Fiqh principle that reads Al-Asl Al-'Adam, i.e. a fact or rule which had not existed in the past is presumed to be non-existent until its existence is proven.
However, the question involves some issues over which the jurists have differed in opinion:
1- Can a more distantly related Wali marry off a woman instead (or despite the existence) of a closer Wali? Some jurists considered this marriage to be correct and valid while others prohibited it. A third group of jurists said it is acceptable on condition that (the closest) Wali permits it.
2- Who takes precedence in marrying off a woman, the father or the son? According to the Maaliki School, the son takes precedence, contrary to the view of the majority of the scholars. For more benefit on the order of the guardians in marriage, please refer to Fatwa 83338.
Based on the above, it is better to renew the marriage contract in order to be on the safe side, especially since the father is not objecting to this. So we assume that it should be easy.
Allaah Knows best.
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