The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "There is no marriage except with a guardian."
قال رسول الله ﷺ قال: لا نكاح إلا بولي.
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It was narrated by Abu Dawud (2085), Tirmidhi (1101), and Ibn Majah (1881), and Ibn Hibban (4077, 4078), Hakim (2/169), and Bayhaqi (7/107) graded it sahih. All of them narrated it through Abu Ishaq Hamdani, from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa, who mentioned it. Abu Ishaq is Subayi, who had mukhtalit (mixed up narrations in his old age), but his students narrated from him, and they are numerous. However, it was criticized on the grounds that Shuba and Thawri narrated from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Burda, from the Prophet ﷺ, mentioning the hadith as mursal.Tirmidhi said, "The narration of those who narrated from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa, from the Prophet ﷺ, is in my view more sahih, because their hearing from Abu Ishaq occurred at different times. Even though Shuba and Thawri were more precise and more firmly established in memory than all these others who narrated this hadith from Abu Ishaq, the narration of these others is, in my view, more fitting, because Shuba and Thawri heard this hadith from Abu Ishaq in a single sitting. What indicates this is what Mahmud bin Ghaylan told us, saying, Abu Dawud told us, saying, Shuba informed us, saying, I heard Sufyan Thawri asking Abu Ishaq, 'Did you hear Abu Burda say, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "There is no marriage without a guardian"?' He said, 'Yes.' This shows that Shuba and Thawri heard this hadith at one and the same time."Israil is trustworthy and firmly established with regard to Abu Ishaq. Hakim mentioned similar remarks, and quoted Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi as saying, "Israil memorizes the hadith of Abu Ishaq the way he memorizes al-Fatihah." Hakim then said, after a lengthy discussion, "We have thus established, through sahih narrations and the statements of the authorities of this hadith, the soundness of the hadith of Abu Musa, in a manner that leaves no need for further reflection on it." Bayhaqi likewise elaborated at length in tracing this hadith, and the conclusion is that it is a sahih hadith. He also quoted Bukhari as having been asked about the hadith of Israil, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Burda, from his father, from the Prophet ﷺ, and Bukhari said, "An addition from a trustworthy narrator is accepted. Israil bin Yunus is trustworthy, and even though Shuba and Thawri narrated it as mursal, that does not harm the hadith." End of quote.Bayhaqi then said, "Reliance is placed on what has been established regarding the narration of Israil and those who followed him in connecting the hadith." Praise be to Allah for that.Ali bin Madini said, "The hadith of Israil, from Abu Ishaq, is sahih regarding 'There is no marriage without a guardian.'" Qabisa said, "Ali bin Madini came to me and asked me about this hadith, so I related it to him from Yunus bin Abu Ishaq, from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa, without mentioning Abu Ishaq in it. He said, 'We are relieved of the disagreement over Abu Ishaq.'" Ibn Qayyim mentioned this in Tahzib Sunan (3/30–31).This does not preclude the possibility that this hadith was narrated both connected (mawsul) and disconnected (mursal), with both being sahih, as Ibn Hibban said, "Abu Burda heard this report from Abu Musa as a raised hadith (marfu). At times he related it from his father as a fully linked chain, and at other times he related it as mursal. Abu Ishaq heard it from Abu Burda both as mursal and as fully linked together, so at times he related it as marfu, and at other times as mursal. So the report is sahih both as mursal and as fully linked, with no doubt or uncertainty about its soundness."