❀ Shari‘ah Ruling on Rejecting a Righteous Marriage Proposal Due to Disinterest ❀
This fatwa is taken from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” based on the rulings of the scholars of the Ḥaramayn and translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
I am a sixteen-year-old girl. A religious young man who serves as a mu’adhdhin (caller to prayer) at a mosque has sent me a marriage proposal. However, I do not wish to marry him because I do not like him. In fact, I have disliked him even before he proposed. Would I be sinful for rejecting his proposal and distancing myself from him, even though he is among those who are deemed praiseworthy due to their religiousness? Please issue a fatwa on this matter. Jazakum Allahu Khayran.
If you do not wish to marry someone despite his religiosity, you are not sinful for rejecting the proposal, because marriage is not only based on piety but also requires that the heart be inclined towards the suitor.
However, if you dislike him merely due to personal disdain while he is a believing and righteous man, then you may be blameworthy for disliking a believer.
It is obligatory to love a believer for the sake of Allah and not to dislike him solely due to his righteousness. Still, this does not mean you are obliged to marry him, as long as your heart does not incline toward him, even if you acknowledge his religious virtues.
(Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān ibn ʿAbdullāh رحمه الله)
This fatwa is taken from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” based on the rulings of the scholars of the Ḥaramayn and translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
❖ Question:
I am a sixteen-year-old girl. A religious young man who serves as a mu’adhdhin (caller to prayer) at a mosque has sent me a marriage proposal. However, I do not wish to marry him because I do not like him. In fact, I have disliked him even before he proposed. Would I be sinful for rejecting his proposal and distancing myself from him, even though he is among those who are deemed praiseworthy due to their religiousness? Please issue a fatwa on this matter. Jazakum Allahu Khayran.
❖ Answer:
If you do not wish to marry someone despite his religiosity, you are not sinful for rejecting the proposal, because marriage is not only based on piety but also requires that the heart be inclined towards the suitor.
However, if you dislike him merely due to personal disdain while he is a believing and righteous man, then you may be blameworthy for disliking a believer.
It is obligatory to love a believer for the sake of Allah and not to dislike him solely due to his righteousness. Still, this does not mean you are obliged to marry him, as long as your heart does not incline toward him, even if you acknowledge his religious virtues.
(Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān ibn ʿAbdullāh رحمه الله)
