The Official Website of Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

 Is it necessary for a girl's father to agree to her marriage? What if her father refuses to permit her to marry a suitor who is suitable in every way without any good reason? What is the ruling for orphaned girls or girls with irresponsible or incapacitated parents? In response to all of these questions, we must say It is impermissible for a virgin girl to get married permanently or temporarily without her legal guardian's consent In the religious context, a girl who has never married before is considered a virgin, whether she is physiologically a virgin or not But if a girl's father refuses to consent to her marriage without any good reason while her suitor has been approved of as suitable by her older relatives, the trusted clerics in the region or by the girl herself, in case she is intellectually mature enough, they can get married without her father's consent It is better though to gain her father's consent if possible If the girl's father is a non-Muslim, it is permissible for her to get married without her father's consent only if she is intellectually and physically mature enough and can recognize what is in her best interest and if this will not stir up any serious trouble.