[2] "Wali" can also mean a "legal guardian", or ruler;[3] someone who has "Wilayah" (authority or guardianship) over somebody else, and in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is often "an authorized agent of the bride in concluding a marriage contract (Islamic Law)",[2] Traditionally, girls and women in Saudi Arabia, have been forbidden by law from travelling, obtaining a passport, conducting official business, obtaining employment, concluding a marriage contract, or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their guardian, who must be an adult Muslim male.
[4] However in 2019 these guardian restrictions on adult women in Saudi Arabia were lifted from traveling, undergoing certain medical procedures, obtaining passports, employment.
[14] According to the founder of the Maliki school of fiqh, Malik ibn Anas, there are two kinds of custody or guardianship – khassa (specific) and `amma (general).
(This at least is the opinion of many conservative Muslims such as Ustadha Nasari, who points to Quranic verse Al-Tauba, 9:71 where "awliya", (plural of wali) is translated as "protector".
[citation needed] While a husband or a mahram can not be a wali, of their wife, they do have "protector" status over them, and are sometimes referred to as "guardians" of their wives and families in English language sources.
[15][16] According to Human Rights Watch, as of mid-2023, some Muslim countries do not allow women to "leave their homes without permission from their husband or other guardian without facing possible sanction" -- namely, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
"[18] In 2013, according to Rothna Begum, of Human Rights Watch, women could not leave their house without her husband's permission, with a few emergency exceptions, such as taking care of ailing parents.
Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, but in some cases a brother or even a son, who has the power to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf.