She does not have a guardian for the purpose of marriage; can one who takes care of her marry her off to himself?

22-5-2023 | IslamWeb

Question:

اسلام عليكمThere is a girl who is orphan and she does not have any relatives at all she was brought by orphanage and her origin are unknown. She was under guardianship of my friend who took care of her financially. As she is now of age, my friend intend to marry her to himself. But who will be the wali ?Also is it permissible for a guardian of orphan girl become her husband? Who will act as wali for the orphan girl as she because guardian was now marrying her to himself?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If this girl does not have a guardian, as it appears, then the one who takes charge of her marriage is the Muslim ruler or whoever acts on his behalf, such as the Muslim judge and the bodies specialized in examining Muslim cases in non-Muslim countries.

Abu Dawood, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah reported on the authority of 'Aaishah that the Prophet said: “And the ruler is the guardian of the one who does not have a guardian.”

It is not valid for one who takes care of her to take charge of her marriage, according to the majority of scholars.

Accordingly, whoever wants to marry her should do so through someone who looks into the interests of the Muslims in his country so that they may marry her off to him.

Allah knows best.