Question: What if a Sayyid male who has reached puberty marries such a female Memon servant of his home who has reached puberty, without his father’s permission?
Answer: This marriage will be valid as long as there is no other Shar’ī prohibition. Page 53, part 7 of Maktaba-tul-Madīnaĥ’s version of Baĥār-e-Sharī’at states: Only a man is required to meet the standard of Kufw. If a woman is inferior to a man, it does no harm. However, if a Walī, other than the father or grandfather, marries a non-pubescent boy to a non-Kufw girl, then this marriage is invalid. If a male who has reached puberty wants to marry himself, then he can marry a non-Kufw woman because the woman is not required to meet the standard of Kufw in this case. As for a non-pubescent child, Kufw is required from both sides. (Baĥār-e-Sharī’at, part 7, pp. 53)
This ruling about the validity of marriage is correct. However, such ‘court-marriages’ cause family feuds and major humiliation to families. Therefore, these factors should also be considered and a marriage should only take place with the consent of parents.
Question: If a Pathan woman marries a Rajput Muslim man without her guardian’s consent, then is this marriage valid?
Answer: The Rajput family is a respectable community. Therefore, if all other conditions of Kufw and Nikah are fulfilled then this marriage is valid. Fatāwā Razawiyyaĥ states: In India four families are considered respectable, in second place is Cĥatrī i.e. Ṫĥākur. In India most people of authority are from this family, hence they are called ‘Rajput’. So they are clearly one of India’s respectable families.’
(Fatāwā Razawiyyaĥ, vol. 11, pp. 719)