Can a Woman Refuse Marriage to a Man Who Does Not Pray?This fatwa is taken from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” based on the verdicts of the scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
❖ Question:
Is it permissible for a woman to refuse marriage solely because her father wants to marry her to a man who does not perform prayer (Ṣalāh)?
❖ Answer:
In such a situation, it is appropriate for the woman to remain patient and display forbearance. She should not directly refuse the marriage proposal outright, but rather respond by saying:
“I would like to postpone the matter of marriage for now.”
This time of delay may become a means for Allah to soften her father’s heart, so he might agree to her marriage with a man she deems righteous and suitable.
There are women who, even after receiving twenty-five proposals, continue to reject them and remain unmarried even into old age. Then there are others whose families are eager to marry them off, but the woman refuses. In some cases, families become so frustrated that they lock her in a room, not allowing her sisters to meet her or letting her come out, in the hope that this pressure might push her into agreeing to a marriage.
In such circumstances, the woman must remain patient, and keep supplicating to Allah to provide her with a righteous husband.
(Maqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī رحمه الله)
