The Order of Marriage’s Guardians in Islam

Humans are social creatures who have many needs including the need for love and affection. To fulfill this need, Islam encouraged people to marry. Marriage is one form of worship and the purpose of marriage in Islam is to build a household based on love and affection based on religious knowledge. Marriage can be preceded by engagement. Islam encourages its people to get married as the following hadith of the Prophet SAW:

“Whoever is able to marry among you and wants to marry (marry), let him marry (marry) because, in fact, the marriage will keep his eyes away from people who are not lawful to see and will keep it from the temptation of lust.”

“And he who does not marry should fast because of his fasting of lust for women will decrease.”

The purpose of marriage in Islam according to the Compilation of Islamic Law article 3 is “Marriage aims to realize the domestic life of sakinah, mawaddah, and rahmah,” while the purpose of marriage according to Islamic law is to:

• Demonstrate devotion to Allah SWT
• Meet the needs or human nature where men and women need each other, including fulfilling their husband’s obligations to his wife and vice versa, wife’s obligations to her husband
• Continuing offspring
• Increase the peace of life of men and women both physically and spiritually
• Causing mutual understanding between humans

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Definition of Marriage Guardian

Marriage certainly has terms of marriage contract and harmony which must be fulfilled and if it is not fulfilled then the marriage is not valid and the woman who is married is not a woman who is not forbidden to marry. One of the pillars of marriage, both official marriage and side marriage, is the existence of a marriage guardian.

Guardian of marriage is a person who will marry a woman or become a bride guardian. Women who will get married must be with the guardian’s approval while men do not need a guardian. This is based on the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad who said,

“Whoever is married to a woman who is not authorized by her guardian, the marriage is null and void.” (Aisyah RA)

“Do not marry women to other women and do not marry women to themselves.” (Ibn Majah)

The two hadiths explain that the marriage guardian is one of the pillars that must be fulfilled in addition to the prospective bridegroom, prospective bride, and witness. Without the marriage’s guardian on the part of the woman, the marriage cannot be held or in other words, the marriage is canceled.

Nevertheless, there were differences of opinion among scholars about the legal guardianship of marriage. Mahzab Syafi’i stated that the legal guardian of marriage is obligatory while the Hanafi school of thought argues that the legal guardian of marriage is a sunnah. In Indonesia itself, the people tend to agree with the Shafi’i school and require a guardian in marriage.

Classification and Sequence of Marriage Guardians

In the Islamic religion, only women who need guardians in marriage and guardians of women must be men. In the Compilation of Islamic Law in Article 20 paragraph 1, it is stated that those who act as guardians of marriage are a man who fulfills the requirements of a marriage guardian in Islamic law, namely Muslims, aqil, and baligh. The marriage guardian consists of 3 namely the guardian of Nasab, Guardian Judge and Ali Mahakkam which are explained below

1. Guardian of Nasab

Nasab in Arabic means descendants according to patrimonial teachings and is also interpreted as a relationship patrimonial blood that is lowered. Guardian is a person who is a member of the bride’s family who has patrimonial blood relations and can marry the woman to a man. Based on the Syafi’i school, the order of the nasab guardian is as follows

• Father, grandfather (father’s parents), and so on
• The biological brother of a father
• Another mother’s brother
• The nephew of the biological brother
• The nephew of the brother and father and so on
• Uncle, that is the brother of the father of the siblings
• Uncle, you are the brother of another father, mother
• Children of biological uncles (cousins)
• Uncle’s father’s son

Based on the sequence, it can be concluded that the father is the person most entitled to be the guardian of his daughter and if the father does not exist, it can be replaced in the order in the explanation above. But if the party most entitled to be a guardian still exists, the other family members do not have the right to become guardians of the woman’s marriage.

In the Shafi’i school, it is also explained that if the father or the most entitled person to become a guardian does not fulfill the requirements of being a guardian, for example losing his mind, not baligh, and others, then the guardian in that order or guardian may become the guardian of the marriage.

2. Guardian Judge

As explained previously, the main guardian of marriage is the person in these sequences, but if the guardian of the nasab does not exist or does not meet the requirements then the power to become a guardian of marriage is given to the head of state in this case represented by the minister of religion and then handed over to the marriage registrar or known as the judge’s guardian.

Usually, these officers come from the KUA office. The following are the conditions that the guardian of the judge can become a guardian in marriage if the following conditions are met:

• Guardian of the Nasab, there really is not any or has died
• The guardian is traveling far away or is not in the place where the wedding will take place and he does not authorize the other Nasab guardians
• Guardian of the Nasab lost the right to guardianship
• Guardian Nasab is going to perform the Hajj or Umrah
• Guardian refused to act as guardian
• The guardian of the nasab becomes the bridegroom of the woman who is under guardianship as well as if a woman marries a child from her father’s brother or cousin who does not belong to a blood marriage

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3. Guardian of Muhakkam

The last guardian group is called the guardian of Muhakkam. This guardian is the last choice if the guardian and guardian of the judge refuse to act as guardian of marriage and cannot carry out their obligations or rights as guardians.

For example in the case of an Islamic male married to a woman who is a Christian or convert who does not have a guardian. If the marriage still wants to take place even though there is conflict within the family, they can appoint someone to be their guardian because, without a guardian, the marriage is not legal. In other words, the muhakkam guardian is the guardian that occurs because the guardian is appointed by the bride.

Further reading:

• The Law of Buying Goods with Advances
• The Law of Conducting Worship without Knowledge
• The Law of Telling One’s Own Disgrace and Its Proposition
• 14 Effects of Sins in Islam
• 15 Types of Tolerance in Islam We Should Learn

Such is the understanding and order of guardians in marriage. This sequence needs to be considered given the importance of the position of guardian in marriage and this determines whether the marriage is valid or not. Before marriage, you should first pay attention to the criteria for the prospective husband and the criteria for a good prospective wife so that the marriage can take place well and create a harmonious household.