The guardian of the convert woman: the advice of Shaykh al-Jābirī

The question

A question put to Shaykh 'Ubayd al-Jābirī (may Allah have mercy on him):

When a woman converts to Islam while she is in a land of disbelief and she has no Muslim guardian (walī), who will be her guardian?

The Shaykh's answer

In that case, she entrusts this matter to the Muslims and seeks the help of the imam of the mosque and of other people who are constant in prayer, so that they may choose a guardian for her.

The proof drawn from the Sunnah

This is what Umm Ḥabība (may Allah be pleased with her) did: she was among those who had emigrated to Abyssinia, and when her husband apostatised, the Prophet ﷺ married her and she entrusted her affair to an-Najāshī, for an-Najāshī, the king of Abyssinia (may Allah have mercy on him), had converted to Islam.