Marriage, to be valid, must fulfill certain conditions; among them is consent of the guardian especially in the case of a young woman who has no experience of marriage before.

So, I would urge your friend not to take the law in her hands and get married without her parents’ consent. It, however, is no way means that she has no other choice than marrying her cousin. She cannot be forced to marry anyone unless she wants to.

Forced marriage cannot be deemed as valid in Islam. You are free to marry anyone you choose as long you choose someone who is compatible in faith and character. If the person you want to marry has sound faith and character, then your parents have no right to refuse their consent. If however, the person is deficient in faith and character, then they have a right to object to it and you cannot proceed with the marriage.

So you should ask: why are they objecting to your choice. Is the person of sound faith and character? Or is he someone with questionable integrity and morals?

Generally speaking, there is no objection in intermarriage between Sunnis and Shi`ah.

However, if anyone is embarking on such a marriage, it is most desirable to make a pre-nuptial contract in order to rule out any possible conflicts due to differences in beliefs and practices.

Marriage is a long term commitment and partnership. Since there are differences between certain beliefs and practices of Sunni Muslims (ahl al-sunnah wa al-jama`ah) and the Shiite (Shi`ah), you should only be willing to tie the knot after you have figured out how to deal with the differences in an amicable way.

It is not realistic to say that we would sort it out later. So, I urge you to list all the points at stake and come up with a balanced and amicable way of dealing with the differences.

You should stipulate that both of you should be able to follow your respective madhhabs without sacrificing the marriage relationship.

Once you have agreed upon the salient points, you should sign a contract to that effect. There is a great word of wisdom saying, “There is no intelligence greater than planning.”

Almighty Allah knows best.