UAE court rejects 25-year-old woman’s appeal to marry US national without father’s consent

A court in the United Arab Emirates has rejected a 25-year-old woman’s appeal to get married without her father’s permission.

The woman appealed at the Sharjah Sharia Court that she should be allowed to marry a US national even though her father was against it. She said her father’s disagreement about the marriage was based on religious reasons.

While the woman, as well as others, have tried convincing her father to give his consent, he said he does not want his daughter to get married to the American based on social status. According to the daughter, her fiancée is well-educated and has an excellent job, the Khaleej Times reported.

Advocate Ibrahim Alhosani said the woman’s father must agree on the marriage and that it is mandatory for the father to be present at the ceremony. If the father is not present at the ceremony, the marriage will be considered void. According to Article 23 of Personal Affairs Law in their country, the woman’s father has the right to refuse the marriage.

The Islamic legal system or Sharia is followed in the UAE, a predominantly Muslim country. According to the Sharia, no marriage is allowed without the presence of a guardian.

“Any woman who gets married without the permission of her wali (guardian) makes her marriage invalid,” Islam QA quotes Islamic scholars as saying. “If she does not have a wali then the (Muslim) ruler is the wali of anyone who does not have a wali.”

At the same time, the guardian does not have the right to prevent a woman from getting married without citing any argument based on the Sharia.

The court took the side of the father and dropped the case.

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