Absence of the Guardian in Covenant Marriage: An Evaluation of the Jurisprudential Views of Islamic Denominations

The sacred tradition of marriage from the beginning of human history has always been more or less influenced by environmental, social, and religious conditions. One of the most basic conditions of marriage, from the Islamic point of view, is the permission of the guardian of the girl. However, in case of absence of a close guardian and the transfer of guardianship to a distant guardian or the judge or the girl herself, jurists of Islamic denominations have different views. If the guardian's absence is interrupted i.e. it is impossible or difficult to reach him, three solutions have been proposed: transferring the guardianship to the distant guardian, transferring the guardianship to the judge, and leaving the guardianship to a mature and wise girl. If the absence is uninterrupted (access to the guardian is possible), the following four solutions have been suggested: transferring the guardianship to the distant guardian, transferring the guardianship to the judge, leaving the guardianship to the girl and not transferring the guardianship, and waiting for the close guardian to return. In case of interrupted absence of the guardian, it seems that the solution of transferring the guardianship to the distant guardian is more in line with narrative and rational arguments, and if the absence is uninterrupted, it is better to wait for the guardian to return and take charge of the marriage, especially since in the present age it is easy to return to such a situation with ease in traffic.