Wali (Islamic legal guardian)

Walī (Arabic: ولي, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) is an Arabic word primarily meaning primarily "ally", from which other related meanings with Islamic cultural tones derive, such as "friend of God" or "holy man", etc. "Wali" can also mean a "legal guardian", or ruler; 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)",

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. However in 2019 these guardian restrictions on adult women in Saudi Arabia were lifted from traveling, undergoing certain medical procedures, obtaining passports, employment.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Supreme Leader of the government is a wali al-faqih (guardian jurist), under the principle advanced by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that "in the absence of an infallible Imam", Islam gives a just and capable Islamic jurist "universal" or "absolute" authority over all people, including adult males.