Can My First Cousin Refuse Me as a Suitor?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

Can a mahram refuse my proposal to marry my first cousin just because we’re cousins, even though our families accept it? She didn’t refuse when I expressed my interest, and we share alignment in faith, status, and affection from childhood.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

Indeed, it is permissible to marry your cousin. However, a cousin may decline the proposal if they do not wish to marry. In your situation, your cousin has indirectly accepted a willingness to marry you. There is no better situation than when two people mutually desire to marry.

Marriage is Best for Those Who Love Each Other

Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “We do not see for those who love one another anything like marriage.” [Ibn Maja]

I pray to Allah Most High to bless your marriage, and may it be a means for ever-growing love, compromise, and harmony between the families and having righteous and healthy children, amin.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related

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I pray this helps with your question.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.