Is a marriage valid without the woman's walī (guardian)?

The majority of scholars — Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad — hold that the walī is a condition for the validity of the marriage contract, based on the Prophet's ﷺ words "There is no marriage except with a walī" (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2085; Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 1101, ṣaḥīḥ) and on Allah addressing the guardians directly in "do not prevent them from marrying their husbands" (Quran 2:232). The Ḥanafīs, in contrast, permit an adult, sane woman to contract her own marriage, so this is a genuine point of ikhtilāf among the imāms, though the jumhūr consider their evidence the stronger. The walī's role is protective, not coercive: he cannot marry her off without her permission — "a previously married woman is not to be married until she is consulted, and a virgin is not to be married until her permission is sought," and her silence is her permission (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5136; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1419). And if he unjustly refuses a suitable proposal (ʿaḍl), his guardianship does not hold the marriage hostage: it passes on to the next walī, and ultimately to the Muslim judge, for "the ruler is the walī of one who has no walī" (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 1102, ṣaḥīḥ).

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