Thursday 20 Jumada al-ula 1446 - 21 November 2024
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She is in love with a man and is waiting for him to propose to her

Question

If a divorced woman does not want to marry anyone except a particular person, who she has always wanted to marry, and she does not want to be married to anyone else, and she has loved him quietly for years, and she suggested marriage to him, and he told her that she is suitable for him, but because of some problem that he has he cannot propose marriage to her, but they have not made any kind of promise to one another, and she has decided to wait for him until he is able to propose marriage to her, is that permissible? Is there any blame on her, even though – by Allah – she does not speak to him and there is nothing between them except everything that is good, and he is one of her relatives?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

It is permissible for a woman who is in love with a man to wait for him until he is able to propose marriage to her, if she is safe from any kind of fitnah (temptation) and she is certain that she will not reach an age when she will miss out on marriage, but it is not permissible for her to correspond with him and talk to him, because he is a non-mahram to her. However, we do not advise doing that; rather we think that she should seek the help of Allah, may He be exalted, and ask Him to enable her to marry someone better than him. She may think that he is the best of people, and that no one else is suited to her except him, when that is not the case. So the woman – especially one who is divorced – should hasten to keep herself chaste and agree to marry a man of good character and religious commitment who proposes to her, without pinning all her hopes on something that is unknown, for she may miss out on the opportunity to get married and  her life may go by without that man ever being able to propose to her, and in fact he may reject her if the opportunity arises when she has  spent her life waiting.

And Allah knows best.

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Source: Islam Q&A