قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
“يَا مَعْشَرَ الشَّبَابِ مَنْ اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْكُمْ الْبَاءَةَ فَلْيَتَزَوَّجْ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَعَلَيْهِ بِالصَّوْمِ فَإِنَّهُ لَهُ وِجَاءٌ”
[متفق عليه]
The Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him said;
“O young men, whoever among you can afford it, let him get married, for it is more effective in lowering the gaze and guarding one’s chastity. And whoever cannot afford it should fast, for it will be a shield for him.”
[agreed upon]
One of the biggest topics today is the situation of marriage. Everyone is talking about getting married, and trying to find the quickest and easiest ways to go about doing this. We find many people doing what is referred to back alley marriages. Some of you may have heard of these, and this may be the first for others. This is where two people, a man and woman meet, and decide that they want to become married. So they search for anyone that is willing to get them married in the quickest and easiest way possible. This is incorrect according to that which was revealed in the Book and the Sunnah.
This issue of some of the youth trying to go around the people that have the most right to, eg. – the father or other than him, and going to a friend that one of them knows from the streets, or a friend of a friend is an issue that is both unjust and incorrect. We need to understand that we can not just pick anyone, when we get the felling that we want to be married, and name him the Wali. This is in opposition to that which we have been commanded to do.
In Islam, we have been commanded to make sure that the one that is responsible for the situation of the marriage, the Wali, has got to fit certain conditions. The problem with this, is that many of us have no idea as to what these conditions are, that have to be fulfilled. No one has sat down and explained to us, so we have just taken it upon ourselves to interpret it for ourselves. This can be detrimental to the situation of someone trying to get married, and one of the pillars of the marriage (the suitable Wali) has not been met correctly. We have been learning long enough to understand that without the required pillars of any type of worship, the act itself is considered not acceptable. So can you see the dire need to learn about what these conditions are?
Well, this is our goal today. Below, you will find a list of these conditions that need to be met in order for the person to be considered able to be a Wali for the one trying to marry. Do your best to commit them to memory, so you will have them when you need to recall them in the future.
The conditions are 6 in number, and they are;
- Al Islam – They need to be Muslim
- Al Baloog – They have reached the age of puberty
- Al ‘Aql – They have to have control of their mental faculties
- Adh Dhukuriyyah – They have to be male
- Al Hur’riyah – They have to be a freeman (not a slave)
- Al ‘Adl – They have to be just.
So now that you understand both who can and who cannot be a Wali, due to them fitting or not fitting the requirements, we may not fall into in the future the same potholes we fell into in the past. Not only should you try to remember these conditions, but you should also do your best to teach them to your friends and families. How many people do you know that got married, and unfortunately did not understand this before having someone act as their Wali? We must work together to stop this problem from arising in our communities in the further. So after you are done studying this article, make sure to send it to the Muslims you know, so that they can benefit from it as well. We have a responsibility to work together to eradicate the ignorance that is running wild in our communities. So we need to remember to pass on good information to those that need it, as it comes to us. Don’t you agree?
After all, Allah has commanded in His book;
{وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ}
[المائدة: 2]
{… And help one another in righteousness and piety – and do not help one another in sin and injustice …}
[Surah al Ma’idah (5): 2]
