Dubai: The Saudi Sharia Court helped a woman get married without her father’s permission after it found that he refused all men proposed to her.
The court ordered the transfer of the father’s guardianship to a Sharia guardian after she filed a complaint against him for refusing all her marriage proposals.
The woman, and the man who proposed to her, attended the court hearing where he told the judge that he wanted to marry her. The father, who was called to attend the hearing, failed to show up.
The Saudi Ministry of Justice announced that the court issued its judgment in five days as per regulations by the Supreme Judiciary Council to speed up the Sharia Court’s rulings on such cases.
Male guardian
Under Saudi customary law, every Saudi woman is required to have a male guardian, often her father. The guardian has the power to make a range of critical decisions for a Saudi woman.
In May, the Judicial Committee of the Saudi Shura Council turned down a proposal submitted by a female council member to allow women to marry without the permission of a male guardian.
According to a Saturday report by Al Riyadh, Eqbal Darandari’s proposal called on the Ministry of Justice to work with the Supreme Judicial Council to amend the necessary laws and permit adult women to marry a partner on their own.
The council, which is the formal advisory body of the kingdom, rejected the proposal, saying a male guardian’s presence is a key condition to legislate a marriage.
