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.
The Islamic marriage should fulfill some conditions, among which is the guardian (of the woman); therefore, if a woman has no Muslim guardian, then her guardian is the Muslim ruler or whoever acts on his behalf. If these are not available, then she should appoint a Muslim man (in order to marry her off). Ibn Qudaamah said: “If a Muslim woman has no Muslim guardian and no Muslim ruler, then according to the view of Imaam Ahmad
a trustworthy Muslim man should marry her off with her permission.”
Therefore, if you have no Muslim guardian, and there is no one to act on his behalf in your country, and this man married you off without your permission, then it is a marriage contract undertaken by a Fudhooli (i.e. an unauthorized person who conducts marriage without the proper authority of the concerned person) and it is a valid marriage according to the view of the majority of the scholars if the person for whom it is conducted ratifies it as it is apparent in your situation from your statement “I decided to not protest”. In this case, your going back to your husband is valid, and you should endeavor to be patient with him and you should not look for other men otherwise you would be neglectful about his right over you and it is considered as committing an act of evil and temptation and this is what Allaah has forbidden.
If we presume that the marriage is not valid, then if that man – we mean your previous husband – is attached to you, and you love him as you mentioned, then we advise you to return to him and agree to accept to be his wife again if you do not fear that what caused your separation in the past will happen again. Also, if you can impose on him some conditions to insure that what happened before will not happen again, then you may do so.
As regards your heart being attached to the other man, then please refer to Fatwa 84544.
Allaah Knows best.