The Paternal Uncle’s Right of Guardianship

Question

There are several orphan children, and they have two or three full paternal uncles. Do these have the right of guardianship over them or not? And do those of the children who are minors have guardianship over their sister or not? And if the uncle performs the marriage, will the girl have khiyar al-bulugh (the option on reaching maturity) or not? Or will the nikah contracted by the uncle become binding?

Answer

In this case the paternal uncles will have guardianship of nikah. If the uncles are not well-intentioned, the girl will have khiyar al-bulugh, and if, as soon as the signs of maturity appear, she immediately rejects this nikah before two witnesses, she will then have the right to have the nikah annulled (faskh) through a Muslim court or a Shari‘a committee.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.