Whose Seeking of Permission Makes Silence Count as Consent

Question

In one place, at the time of the nikah, several men went to the girl as witnesses and agent to seek her permission (isti’dhan), but the girl remained silent, and these people had her nikah performed, thinking that at the seeking of permission a girl’s silence counts as permission. Please clarify the following cases in this regard: (1) At the seeking of permission, whose silence is deemed permission — a widow’s or a virgin’s? (2) What is the ruling of a minor girl in this matter? (3)

Answer

(1) A virgin’s. (2) Acknowledgment and refusal all have the same ruling, that is, they carry no weight. (3) That of the one who has the power of compulsion (ijbar), or of his agent or his messenger. (4) The guardian is the agnate in his own right (‘asaba bi-nafsihi, a relative through the male line), in the order of inheritance and exclusion (hajb)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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