My prospective wife is from Indonesia and her wali is there — how do we hold the akad in Malaysia?

A wali (guardian) by kinship who lives far away may delegate (tawkil) in writing to the marriage officiant in the country of the contract, and this is safer than going straight to a wali hakim. A wali hakim is used only when the kinship wali is absent, refuses without a valid religious reason ('adhal, which a court must decide), or is more than two marhalah away and cannot be contacted. "There is no marriage without a wali" (narrated by Abu Dawud 2085 and at-Tirmidhi 1101; sahih). A foreign spouse also needs documents of status and the wali's consent from their own country; foreign documents usually need to be certified by the home country's foreign ministry and embassy, and translated if necessary. A contract in Malaysia has the advantage of direct registration by the state religious affairs office. See cross-border marriage.