Hadith 16

Bulugh al-Maram

Book 8: Marriage
وَعَنْ أَبِي بُرْدَةَ بْنِ أَبِي مُوسَى , عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ ‏- صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏-{ لَا نِكَاحَ إِلَّا بِوَلِيٍّ } رَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ وَالْأَرْبَعَةُ 1‏ وَصَحَّحَهُ اِبْنُ اَلْمَدِينِيِّ , وَاَلتِّرْمِذِيُّ , وَابْنُ حِبَّانَ , وَأُعِلَّ بِالْإِرْسَالِ 2‏ .‏
Abu Burda bin Abu Musa on the authority of his father; Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:

"There is no marriage without a guardian." [Ahmad and al-Arba'a reported it. Ibn al-Madini, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban graded it Sahih (authentic), but it was regarded defective for being Mursal (missing link after the Tabi'i)].