Self appointed wakil and the fisad among us

How many of us have heard from our companions " my zawj will be your wakil"? We think to ourselves, Ma'Sha'Allah this family has my best interest. Among indigenous Muslims this is quite a common occurrence, we think verything is " cool"  but the reality is, it's not. 

Hundreds if not thousands of marriages take place in Philly and other area's daily, they happen at people's apartments, places of business and the new way is phone. As fast as the nikkah begins, it ends. Who are these self appointed wali's?

Ibn Qudamah said in Al Mughni:" If the Muslim woman has no Wali, and there is no ruler, then Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal is of the view that a trustworthy man should marry her off with her permission."

The key words here is TRUSTWORTHY, if a man is accused of being a liar by more than a handful of "ex wives" and even his own wife this is a good indicator He is not trustworthy.

The Messenger of Allah salallahu alaihee wa salam said: “A marriage (contract) is not valid without a wali.” Normally, a woman’s wali is her father if they are from a Muslim family, If  for any reason, her father is unable to be her wali, her wali would then be her next closest blood relation: the grandfather, uncle, brother, son and so on. It is not permissible for a woman to take another woman as her wali.  The Prophet salallahu alaihee wa salam said: “A woman may not give another woman in marriage, nor may a woman give herself (independently) in marriage.” If the bride does not have a Muslim blood-relative as a wali, the Islamic authority, represented by the Imam or judge, would appoint a wali for her.  In non-Muslim communities the local imam is the one to be appointed as the wali of a woman who has no wali.  The Messenger of Allah salallahu alaihee wa salam said: “A marriage (contract) is not valid without a wali.  And the authority is the wali of the one who does not have a wali.”  The presence of the wali or a representative he has appointed is an integral element of the contract or else the contract is deemed invalid.  The Prophet salallahu alaihee wa salam said: “Whichever woman marries without her wali’s permission, her marriage is void, her marriage is void, her marriage is void.  If he (i.e. the husband) performs intercourse with her, the mahr (dowry) becomes her right because he had access to her private parts.  And if they dispute, the ruler would then be the wali of the one who does not have a wali. In our cases since many of us our converts and many who live in the Philly area have no excuse not to goto the Local Imam for this, or a qualified student of knowledge.

Many men because they wear a beard, thobe, kufi and say the word " salafi" impress a lot of women who have no clue what they are doing is wrong. I myself have been duped into this wali thing, I was told by my friends husband he could be my wakil, he spoke to brothers he thought were good, but sadly many were liars and one was even a convict on parole. He used to call me at odd hrs and talk, never really mentioning ayats or hadith just the salafis do this and that, then what made me rethink this, I called a masjid and simply asked about this, The Imam explained to me to cut the brother off from all interaction, I did just that and explained to my friend He wasn't qualified to be a wakil, let alone granting a divorce to a relative of mine, After that his wife started lying claiming I wanted her husband, I was jealous and so on. All because I wanted to follow whats right.

Sisters don't fall for the back door wakil, the secret phone calls by these self appointed wakils, facebook Imams who just cut and paste from books. Men who have no authority over their own households yet try to infiltrate others and want to look like hero's but only look like hoaxes.  Don't fall for the " if hes not salafi hes not a valid wakil" provide a hadith and I will retract my statement.

A lot of marriages, talaq and khula are invalid because these street Imams have no authority to grant anything.