Question: If a Sayyidaĥ, without her father’s consent, secretly and happily marries a Memon in court, is this marriage valid?
Answer: This marriage is invalid because the Sayyid family is superior to a Memon family, and a Memon man does not meet the standard of Kufw of a Sayyidaĥ. If a woman marries without her guardian’s consent, then it is necessary for the man to meet the standard of her Kufw, which is missing in this case.
Question: If, after the marriage, the family agrees and the Sayyidaĥ’s father gives his approval, then is there anything wrong with this?
Answer: Yes, this is wrong. The consent of Sayyidaĥ and that of her father were both prerequisites before the marriage ceremony; post-marriage consent is meaningless. They both will have to re-marry fulfilling the requirements of Sharī’aĥ. My master A’lā Ḥaḍrat Maulānā Shāĥ Imām Aḥmad Razā Khān عَـلَيْهِ رَحْمَةُ الـرَّحْمٰن said: In Islamic law, a non-Kufw is a man who is so inferior in lineage, religion, occupation, or behaviour that marrying him will cause embarrassment to the bride’s guardians. If a woman who has reached puberty marries such a man herself, the marriage will not be valid at all no matter the guardian has not forbidden it nor is it against his wish. This marriage will be valid only if the guardian is already aware of the status of the non-Kufw man before the marriage in terms of the abovementioned scenario and then he grants explicit and deliberate permission to the girl who has reached puberty to marry him. If even any of these conditions is unfulfilled, then the marriage of the girl who has reached puberty is invalid and her guardian has the right to cancel this marriage. In fact, there is no need to cancel it because it was already invalid.
(Fatāwā Razawiyyaĥ, vol. 11, pp. 280)