Islamic Fiqh > Marriage and family > Engagement (khitba) and its rules
Engagement: its lawfulness, the permitted look and questions, the forbiddance of proposing over his brother's proposal while he holds agreement, and gifts.
Engagement (khitba) is licit: before the contract, the suitor has the right to look at his bride and to ask her the necessary questions. The proposal follows precise rules: taking care of one's opening speech and seeking the good qualities, not proposing over his brother's proposal while he holds agreement, knowing the status of the withdrawal of the proposal and that of the engagement gifts. The page also sets out the status of the proposal made through a messenger.
Updated on 07 October 2026 at 6:42 PM
Al-Hawi al-Kabir by al-Mawardi · Shafi'i school
(Chapter of the situation in which maintenance is due, and what does not oblige it, from the book of the ten women) (and the book of indirect proposal in marriage, dictated upon the questions of Malik). Question: al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "If a woman like her is frequently courted by him (for marriage), then she becomes free, or her family left him free to enter upon her, her maintenance becomes obligatory upon him, even if he is young, for the restraint (of the bond) came from him."