I was just wondering. according to here.....
when the father passes away... in what way does the brother get authority over the family? (e.g. sister, mother..etc etc.)

Well in our family, when my father has to travel, my mother tells my brother: Now YOU are the man of the house.

This is since he was a child, so he takes it seriously. He takes care of us, answers the door himself, doesn't normally leave the house with friends during that period, and if any men come he greets them and sees what they want.

But I guess when the father passes away, the brother has more responsibilities.
He is now 'Walee Al Amr'. We need to discuss with him before making any serious decisions. Marriage for example, the brother is the one who takes care of it all, sits with the man, sees is he is good enough for his sister, etc. Islam gave him this right, because he is now the 'Walee'.

I always felt like my brother is 'taking care of me'. And I like it very much.

Al hamdulillah he is not like the brothers I hear, who act all strong and just take it to the extreme, he's very calm and wise for his age.

Insha'Allah he will make a great father in the future. :cute:

yes... glad to hear that... but I meant according to the law. what exactly does the brother take control of?

Oh according to Law, I thought by here you meant by Omani tradition.

here = Oman

Omani Law...

There is no official law that gives the brother any authority over the family…

If the family guardian passed away then all minor dependents would be taken care of by a guardian who would pledge before the court to take that responsibility and be officially answerable to law about all matters pertinent to that family.

The guardian can be any one with no restriction, but usually it goes to the eldest brother if he is a grownup and next to the grandfather or one of the uncles from either sides.

But like UmKhalid said, even during the life of the father, the eldest brother helps his father in running the family daily life and most often when they father passed away the brother would be experienced enough to take care of his siblings.

so pyg... lemme give an example of family matters: what if someone came to ask for the sister after the father passed away...
the acceptance of the brother will be needed and so on and so forth instead?

Commonly, the brother would talk to his sister, mother and uncles…if they liked the guy then before the law, the brother would be the one on the paper work....it goes like this especially when the brother is still relatively young, say under 30 or so.

Oh wow, I never heard of that before! I find it weird and pathetic!

TTT,

As I understand it, if the father is deceased, a marriage proposal must instead be approved by:

1. The paternal grandfather, if he is still alive or if not,
2. The eldest brother, or, if she has no brothers,
3. The closest male relative, and where more than one is equally close, the eldest (e.g. of father's brothers)

There are some differences between mathahib though: For instance, in the shi3i ijtihad, if a girl's father has died, she only needs to seek permission of another relative like a brother, if she is financially dependent on him. If she is working for example and supporting herself, she has the right to marry without reference to anyone else. That is according to istifta2 from Ayatullah Sistani.

^^ that's what i heard as well ...

TTT,

As I understand it, if the father is deceased, a marriage proposal must instead be approved by:

1. The paternal grandfather, if he is still alive or if not,
2. The eldest brother, or, if she has no brothers,
3. The closest male relative, and where more than one is equally close, the eldest (e.g. of father's brothers)

There are some differences between mathahib though: For instance, in the shi3i ijtihad, if a girl's father has died, she only needs to seek permission of another relative like a brother, if she is financially dependent on him. If she is working for example and supporting herself, she has the right to marry without reference to anyone else. That is according to istifta2 from Ayatullah Sistani.

I agree on point 2 and 3 But according to our Arab tradition the Brother becomes the keeper and the guardian of the family and has the full authority more than the Grandpa to decide with regards the family welfare ..

if the brother is young then the GrandPa or the uncle ( the brother of the deceased take over the responsibilty )

here = Oman

Omani Law...Several have given an opinion.

But what is the ...here = Oman

Omani Law...

^good point.........

what IS the law? :XD:

so if the brother refuses for example despite the sister's approval. he can stop her?

IS there a certain law regarding this... or is it simply an elder male who declares himself guardian and that's that.

this is tradition..yes... but according to the law... nothing much is said. except what pygmalion mentioned.

btw.... just to clarify something since i got a few out of the box comments that may've appeared to some that I've a terrible plan in mind :XD:
this is by far not a personal issue and my dad is fine il7amdilla (god bless him)...

I was just curious about where the law stands in this ...:XD:...that's all.

It looks like this would be fall under sharia law.

So mimo and DP answer should be pretty much the law.

mimo talked about the shi3a sector...

so what's the law with sunnis or abathis?

Your question mainly concers Walee, who can legally (according to Islam) give permission for marriage when a parent (father) passes away.

According to my knowledge, when a girl needs to get married, she must get her father's approval, in most cases the father approves, there are a minority of cases where parents has rejected their daughters' wishes to get married, some had valid reasons while others didnt.

The daughter then has an option of either accepting her father's decision or if she thinks he is wrong she can take him to court. The court will normally ask the father to explain his decision, and the court's decision may go either way. Its a long process but in the end the girl usually gets her way. The only thing is who would want to start their lives with court cases, as I said, this is very rare but it does happen.

Now, if the father passes away, the oldest brother has authority in those matters, and the rest is the same.

I hope this clarifies, and as I said, this is according to my knowledge, if someone here knows better please correct me

Googled the word "walee" and found this ...

Conditions of walee (guardian) (http://www.islamicwell.com/iqano2127.htm)

The conditions of the walee are as follows:

1. He should be of sound mind

2. He should be an adult

3. He should be free (not a slave)

4. He should be of the same religion as the bride. A kaafir cannot be the walee of a Muslim, male or female, and a Muslim cannot be the walee of a kaafir, male or female, but a kaafir can be the walee of a kaafir woman for marriage purposes, even if they are of different religions. An apostate (one who has left Islam) cannot be a walee for anybody.

5. He should be of good character (‘adaalah – includes piety, attitude, conduct, etc.), as opposed to being corrupt. This is a condition laid down by some scholars, although some of them regard the outward appearance of good character as being sufficient, and some say that it is enough if he is judged as being able to pay proper attention to the interests of the woman for whom he is acting as walee in the matter of her marriage.

6. He should be male, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No woman may conduct the marriage contract of another woman, and no woman can conduct the marriage contract on behalf of her own self, because the zaaniyah (fornicatress, adulteress) is the one who arranges things on her own behalf.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 1782; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’, 7298)

7. He should be wise and mature (rushd), which means being able to understand matters of compatibility and the interests of marriage.

The fuqahaa’ put possible walees in a certain order, and a walee who is more closely-related should not be ignored unless there is no such person or the relatives do not meet the specified conditions. A woman’s walee is her father, then whoever her father may have appointed before his death, then her paternal grandfather or great-grandfather, then her son, then her grandfathers sons or grandsons, then her brother through both parents (full brother), then her brother through her father, then the sons of her brother through both parents, then the sons of her brother through her father, then her uncle (her father’s brother through both parents), then her father’s brother through the father, then the sons of her father’s brother though both parents, then the sons of her father’s brother through the father, then whoever is more closely related, and so on – as is the case with inheritance. The Muslim leader (or his deputy, such as a qaadi or judge) is the walee for any woman who does not have a walee of her own.

And Allaah knows best.

Brother Jack, Jazakaa Allah Khair for posting such a nice article, but you need to watch what some it says, the following quote for example

...then whoever her father may have appointed before his death

I do not think a father can appoint a walee in this case.

I suggest you check the sites properly, some of these sites can be non Muslim and intentionally misleading.

Would you say the rest is correct ...?

Not quite sure Jack, but I can check it and let you know.

the brother becomes your guardian. Means he's in control of all the official things, for an example when you go to enroll in a university,they need a parent's/guardian's signature for your applications, so he signs for you.