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Fatwa CenterWali of woman who converted to Islam
Question
There is a Hindu girl whom I was in haram relationship with. Allaah guided us and so we repented; she accepted Islam and we then married with the consent of my parents. Since her parents did not accepted Islam (and they also did not know the condition of the religion of her daughter then), my maternal uncle became the Wali (legal guardian) of this girl and gave her to me in marriage. (My wife has been known to my family since childhood.) After a year, her parents agreed to a marriage (Indian Special Marriage act – in which both are supposed to exercise their religion without any compulsion of religious conversion), and so we did a registered marriage in the court. The marriage was conducted at one of the Islamic Centre in India, but since we did not found any suitable judge, in addition to our ignorance, my maternal uncle, who is (now) a practicing Muslim, became her Wali. Alhamdulillah, now, both I and my wife are striving to be on the path of the Salaf (pious predecessors), but our different ways from the majority of the Muslims around us is making our in-laws furious towards us. I am wondering whether our marriage was valid given that we had my maternal uncle as her Wali? Do we have to solemnize our marriage again? What is your advice regarding her parents, who accept me as their son-in-law but do not accept Islam and advise me to shave my beard for social acceptance in their community, citing examples of many Muslims around? These questions are bothering me and have made me suspicious about my religion. Please help.
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
All praise be to Allaah, The Exalted, for granting you guidance and for guiding your wife to Islam. We implore Him to bless you both with steadfastness and adherence to the straight path and safeguard you from misguidance and temptations, what is apparent and what is hidden thereof.
You should know that if your maternal uncle acted as the Wali of this girl with her consent, then the marriage is valid, especially given that you stated in the question that the marriage was conducted in the Islamic center, which legally acts in the stead of the Islamic court. Scholars underlined that when a non-Muslim woman embraces Islam and she has no Muslim Wali and there is no Muslim ruler to act as her Wali in the marriage contract, then any Muslim man may act as her Wali in the marriage contract with her consent. Ibn Qudaamah 
wrote, "If the woman has no Wali and there is no Muslim ruler to act as her Wali in the marriage contract, then it has been narrated on the authority of Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal that any trustworthy Muslim man can act as her Wali in the marriage contract with her permission." [Al-Mughni]
Hence, you are not obliged to renew the marriage contract. For more benefit, please refer to fataawa 88488and 86524.
As for dealing with your community, you should keenly and kindly try to call the members of your community to Islam and should show compassion for them. The believer is enjoined to adhere to two religious obligations, namely, abidance by Truth and being merciful to people.
As for your wife's parents, we advise you to treat them kindly and graciously in order to encourage them to embrace Islam. However, no created being should be obeyed in what constitutes disobedience to the Creator. It is impermissible for you to obey them in shaving your beard; it is prohibited to shave the beard. It has been authentically reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "There should no obedience to a created being in disobedience of the Creator." You should not pay any attention to their claim about the need for social acceptance.
Finally, we do not know what made you suspicious about your religion; rather, you should feel the opposite and have confidence in it.
Allaah knows best.
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