She claims that she was divorced by her husband. Is it permissible to arrange her marriage without any proof of that?
Question

                A man in his seventies has married a woman who is staying in this country but not under his sponsorship, and she says that she got divorced from her former husband who is in another city, and she has two sons from him. The man’s sons advised him to stay away from her or to make sure that she really was divorced, and he does not know how valid his marriage contract is, but he refuses and does not want any interference in his affairs at all. Are his sons guilty of any sin in this case? What should they do with regard to their father? Please note that she goes to that other city every Eid and in the summer because of her children, and she somewhere in the same city every weekend to meet some of her friends, against her husband’s wishes.
Praise be to Allah.Firstly: 
If the woman 
    says that she was married then she got divorced and her ‘iddah ended, should 
    her word be accepted or is it essential to have proof to confirm that she is 
    divorced? There is a difference of opinion among the scholars concerning 
    that. 
Some of them 
    say that her word should be accepted and she should be believed, because she 
    is responsible for herself.  
Others say 
    that if it is thought most likely that she is telling the truth, it is 
    permissible to believe her. 
Others make 
    a distinction between one who is a stranger and one who is living in her own 
    city. The word of the former should be accepted ,whereas the one who is in 
    her own city should not get married until proof of her divorce is brought. 
Some of them 
    make a distinction between her telling of her divorce from a specific 
    husband, such as saying, “So and so married me then he divorced me” and her 
    speaking of marriage to an unspecified person. In the former case it is 
    essential to bring proof that she has been divorced by him. 
There 
    follows a brief look at the comments of the fuqaha’: 
It says in
    al-Mabsoot (5/151): If she says: My husband divorced me or died, and 
    my ‘iddah has ended, it is permissible for her fiancé to marry her and 
    believe her, because the issue of halaal and haraam is something that is 
    determined by sharee’ah and every Muslim is responsible for himself and his 
    words may be accepted with regard to issues that are decided by sharee’ah, 
    but his word is not to be accepted with regard to someone else if the other 
    person says that he is lying. Hence it is permissible to accept her word 
    concerning that. And Allaah knows best what is correct. End quote. 
It says in
    al-Habr al-Raa’iq (4/64): He indicated that the word of a divorced 
    woman may be accepted when he said: If a (previously) married woman said to 
    another man: My husband divorced me and my ‘iddah has ended, then it is 
    permissible for him to believe her if he thinks it most likely that she is 
    telling the truth. End quote. 
‘Aleesh 
    al-Maaliki (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked, as it says in Fath 
    al-‘Aliy al-Maalik fi’l-Fatwa ‘ala Madhhab al-Imam Maalik (2/78): What 
    is your opinion about a woman who came from Fayyoom to al-Qalyoobiyyah and 
    says: I was married in al-Fayoom, and my husband divorced me two months ago, 
    and she has a document confirming a divorce, dated and sealed with the seal 
    of the qaadi in the city where she used to be, and she wants to get married 
    after her ‘iddah ends based on the date of the document. May she be allowed 
    to do that? Please answer.  
The answer 
    was: Praise be to Allaah and peace and blessings be upon our Master 
    Muhammad, the Messenger of Allaah. Yes, she may be allowed to do that 
    because she is to be believed in her claim to be divorced and her claim that 
    the ‘iddah has ended in the manner described, especially since her claim is 
    supported by the document from the qaadi. This is what is indicated by the 
    texts. But further proof should be established because of what we see 
    nowadays of many women cheating and having several husbands at once. We ask 
    Allaah to keep us safe and sound. End quote. 
Al-Zarkashi 
    said in al-Manthoor fi’l-Qawaa’id (1/171): If she says: My husband So 
    and so divorced me and my ‘iddah is over, and she asks the judge to conduct 
    a marriage for her, in Adab al-Qadaa’ by al-Dubayli it says: If she 
    is a stranger and her (former) husband is absent, then her word should be 
    accepted with no proof or oath. If the husband is in the same city and she 
    is not a stranger, then the judge should not conduct a new marriage until 
    her claim has been proven. 
In Fasl 
    al-Tahleel, al-Raafa’i said that her word should be accepted if it is 
    plausible, and he quoted from Fataawa al-Baghawi: If a man and a woman 
    appear before the qaadi, and she asks him to marry her to this man, and says 
    that she was the wife of So and so but he divorced her or died, the qaadi 
    should not proceed with the marriage until proof of the divorce or death has 
    been established, because she has admitted to being married to So and so. 
    End quote. 
Al-Ramli 
    al-Shaafa’i was asked about a woman who said that her husband So and so 
    divorced her or died, and her ‘iddah has ended; can the judge conduct her 
    marriage without any proof? He replied that the judge cannot conduct her 
    marriage until proof of what she says has been established, because she 
    admitted to being married and marriage in principle is still valid (unless 
    there is evidence to the contrary). This is unlike the case if she admits 
    having been married without specifying a person.  This is what is indicated 
    by what al-Dubayli said in Adab al-Qadaa’, [and he quoted the words of 
    al-Zarkashi mentioned above], and what al-Qaadi mentioned in his fatwa that 
    if the woman claims that her husband has died or has divorced her in front 
    of her wali, and the wali denies it, she may swear an oath and the judge may 
    tell him to arrange her marriage, or the judge may arrange her marriage. 
    (3/161). 
He also said 
    (3/153): To conclude: if a woman claims that she is divorced from a specific 
    marriage, the judge should not let her remarry until it has been proven. If 
    the marriage is not specified then he may accept her word, and there are 
    other views on this issue. End quote. 
It seems 
    that caution is required in this matter, especially at times of corruption 
    and when there have been many incidents in which marriage contracts have 
    turned out to have been done for women who are already married and are 
    lying. But the judge still has the right to make the decision in such cases. 
    If he thinks that her word is acceptable, he may arrange her marriage, and 
    if he thinks otherwise he should ask her for proof, or he does not think 
    that she is telling the truth, he should not conduct her marriage until the 
    divorce has been proven. 
What is done 
    now is that the qaadi or registrar does not conduct the marriage of a woman 
    who is proven to have been married before and claims that she is divorced, 
    until she brings proof of the divorce. We do not know how the marriage 
    contract with the man mentioned was done. 
Secondly: 
If there is 
    some doubt as to whether the woman is divorced or if she is still married to 
    her first husband, then the sons of the person in question should strive to 
    ask about her and her first husband. If it is proven that she was not 
    divorced from her first husband, then their father must be told about that 
    and the couple must be separated until her ‘iddah from both is over. The 
    matter should be referred to the qaadi to decide on the matter, and it is 
    not permissible for them to be quiet if they know about that, because 
    marriage to a woman who is already married to someone else before she gets 
    divorced and completes her ‘iddah is an invalid marriage, and the one who 
    does that is committing zina if he knew the real situation. 
But here we 
    should point out two things: 
1 – The 
    children should respect their father and recognize his status and not offend 
    him by speaking of this matter. If we assume that they found out something 
    reprehensible, they should look for a suitable means of advising their 
    father, and if they ask someone else to intervene that is better, so to 
    avoid offending him and to preserve the love that exists between them. 
2 – The 
    motive for this doubt and accusing should not be hatred of their father’s 
    wife because she is a foreigner or because their father married her when he 
    was old, or for some other reason that is not hidden from the Knower of the 
    unseen, may He be glorified. Let them speak good words and beware of 
    accusing one who is innocent; they should try to think in positive terms and 
    refrain from saying anything that may hurt them or their father, so long as 
    there is nothing that they cannot keep silent about. 
The Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever intercedes 
    to prevent one of the hadd punishments of Allaah has opposed Allaah in His 
    command; and whoever dies owing a debt, it is not (going to be settled by) 
    dinars and dirhams, but rather by good and bad deeds; and whoever argues 
    about falsehood knowingly will remain subject to the wrath of Allaah until 
    he gives it up; and whoever says something about a believer that is not 
    true, Allaah will cause him to dwell in the mud of the juice of the people 
    of Hell  until he recants what he said.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (5129) from 
    the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him).  Classed as 
    saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 
May Allaah 
    help us and you to do that which He loves and which pleases Him. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.