Abdullah Omar Khayat
Okaz
Any father should be happy to see the right young man knock on his door and ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. What kind of father would not want that? Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “If there comes to you a man whose religion and manners are acceptable to you (to marry from women under your guardianship), then let him marry (from them).” I am sure that any father would be happy to become a grandfather and see his grandchildren.
However, some fathers, and they are a minority, refuse to let their daughters marry or remarry while Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an: “… do not prevent them from remarrying their (former) husbands if they agree among themselves on an acceptable basis.” (2:232)
Young women who work and earn often face difficulties getting married; this is usually caused by fathers who do not want them to get married so that they can continue taking a share of their salaries. How could a father treat his daughter like this, as if she were not of his own flesh and blood?
What is worse is that some fathers practice adhl (prohibiting their womenfolk from marrying), take their daughters’ salaries and force them to do household chores so that they do not have to hire housemaids. This is against Shariah.
Apparently, some daughters do not like being treated in this way and file cases against their legal guardians. It is their right to do so. The judge will give the guardian two options: either permit his daughter to get married or the judge will act as a guardian and allow the daughter to get married. The number of adhl cases has doubled and reached 755 last year, with courts in the Makkah region looking into 272 cases. Riyadh came second with 190, the Eastern Province third with 104, Madinah fourth with 76, Asir fifth with 28, Tabuk sixth with 20, Jazan seventh with 19, Al-Qassim eighth with 14, Hail ninth with 10, Al-Jouf tenth with 9, Al-Baha eleventh with 7, the Northern Frontier twelfth with 5, and Najran thirteenth with only one case.
I do not see any reason why a father would prevent his daughter from marrying or remarrying except because of greed for money. A judge who looks into an adhl case should immediately take on the role of the guardian and help the young woman get married to whomever she pleases.
