for her, and he does not marry her off until the Sultan comes; for he is not among her agnates, he does not pay blood money (diya) on her behalf, nor does he inherit from her, so he resembles a stranger. He said in another narration regarding a woman who accepted Islam at the hand of a man: He may marry her off. This is also the view of Ishaq. It is narrated from Ibn Sirin that he should not do that until the Sultan comes. It is narrated from al-Hasan that he saw no harm in him marrying her to himself. This is because Abu Dawud reported with his chain of narration from Tamim al-Dari that he said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is the Sunnah regarding a man who accepts Islam at the hand of a man from the Muslims?" He replied: "He is the most entitled of people to his life and his death." However, Ahmad weakened this hadith and said: "Its narrator is Abd al-Aziz—meaning the son of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz—and he is not among those known for preservation (hifz) and precision (itqan)."

Section: If no guardian is found for the woman, nor a Sultan, there is a position from Ahmad which indicates that a just man may marry her off with her permission. For he said regarding the dehqan (leader) of a village: "He may marry off a woman who has no guardian if he acts cautiously for her regarding the dowry and compatibility, provided there is no judge in the district (rustaq)." Ibn Aqil said: "A group of our companions took from this narration that marriage is not dependent upon a guardian." He said: "The Qadi said: 'The explicit texts (nusus) of Ahmad forbid that.'" The correct view is that this statement is specific to the condition where there is no guardian or Sultan; because he stipulated that there be no judge in the district. The reason for this is that the condition of having a guardian here prevents the marriage entirely, so it is not permissible, similar to the condition of the appropriate spouse (munasib) in the case of one who has no suitable match. It is narrated that marriage is not valid except with a guardian, due to the generality of the reports regarding it.