Who Holds Guardianship in Nikah: the Father or the Maternal Grandmother?

Question

A mother bought a house with her own money in the name of her daughter, and the daughter died. Three minor daughters of the deceased are alive. According to the Sacred Law, which of the two — the maternal grandmother or the father of the minors — holds the right of guardianship (wilaya) over the minors? Especially when the grandmother is in possession of the house? And whose property will the house be?

Answer

Guardianship over the nikah of these minor girls belongs to their father, not to the maternal grandmother. Likewise, guardianship over whatever property is in their ownership belongs to the father alone. So it is in “Radd al-Muhtar”. That house is the property of the one who bought it: merely buying it in the girl’s name does not make it the girl’s property.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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