Benefits of the Hadith: (None of you should propose a woman who has already been proposed to by his brother...)

The Shaykh : This hadith contains several benefits. First: the Sharī‘ah’s concern for establishing brotherhood among people, among Muslims. The reason for this is that proposing a woman who has already been proposed to by one’s brother leads to discord, hostility, and hatred. For this reason, if you examine many texts, you will find that the Islamic Sharī‘ah greatly considers affection and harmony among the believers. Look at intoxicants, gambling, and the lots of divination; Allah has grouped them together and explained the wisdom behind that, saying: . Regarding proposing a woman who has already been proposed to by a Muslim, the ruling is the same; that is, there are many texts indicating that the Islamic Sharī‘ah considers brotherhood among people, harmony, and the avoidance of division.
One of the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of a man proposing a woman who has already been proposed to by his Muslim brother. This is derived from his statement: . The prohibition, and the original ruling for a prohibition is that it is forbidden. The prohibition is further emphasized here because proposing a woman who has already been proposed to by one’s brother is an aggression against him, an encroachment upon his right, as he is more deserving and earlier in time.
Now, if someone were to ask: Is it permissible for a woman to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by her sister?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : We say: By analogy, it is not permissible for a woman to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by her sister. For example, if a woman hears that a man has proposed to so-and-so, and she offers herself to him, this is forbidden for her, because the cause is the same, which is encroaching upon the right of another.
If someone were to ask: What is the answer to the hadith of Fatimah bint Qays, where three men proposed to her: Mu‘awiyah, Abu Jahm, and the third was Usamah ibn Zayd? What is the answer to this? She came to consult the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this, and he made it clear to her that Mu‘awiyah was a poor man with no wealth, and that Abu Jahm was a man who beat women. Then he said: . What is the answer? The answer is that it should be said: These three men, each one proposed without knowing that the second had proposed, because this is a specific case and it does not explicitly state that each one of them proposed while knowing that his brother had proposed. Therefore, this case is to be understood in a way that aligns with the Sharī‘ah, namely that each one proposed without knowing of the other’s proposal, and in that case, there is no problem with the issue.
One of the benefits of this hadith is that it is permissible for a person to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by a dhimmi or a harbi (enemy). But if we were to ask: How is it possible to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by a dhimmi or a harbi? Because a dhimmi and a harbi cannot marry a Muslim woman? The answer is: A Muslim man is permitted to marry a Christian woman or a Jewish woman. So, if a Muslim man wants to propose to a Jewish woman, for example, and he knows that a Jewish man has proposed to her, the apparent meaning of the hadith Likewise, if the proposer is a Christian, it is permissible to propose. However, some scholars say: This is forbidden, and it is not permissible to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by a Jew or a Christian if they have a dhimmah (protected status). But if they are harbis, they have no right. However, if they have a dhimmah, they have the right. For this reason, there are multiple hadiths regarding the impermissibility of encroaching upon the rights of the People of the Book.
If someone were to ask: What is the answer to the hadith ?
We said: The answer to this is that it was stated as the general case, and what is stated as the general case has no implication according to the scholars. It was stated as the general case, yes, and what is stated as the general case has no implication. For this reason, there are many examples, including the saying of the Exalted, in the context of the prohibitions in marriage: . He said: . Now, are stepdaughters who are not in one’s care forbidden or not? They are forbidden according to the stronger opinion, which is the opinion of the majority. They said: This restriction was stated as the general case to clarify the cause, and what is stated as the general case has no implication.
Therefore, we say: According to this opinion, it is not permissible for a Muslim man to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by a Jew, a Christian, or any other person from the People of the Book. This opinion is strong, and it is also strengthened from an educational perspective, because if non-Muslims see this aggression from Muslims, they will dislike Islam, especially if they are told that Islam permits this thing, for this causes harm to Islam and leads to aversion from it. If they know that Islam respects rights, they may be inclined toward it, or at least they will refrain from speaking ill of it, and if they do speak ill of it, their lie will be known.
Now, one of the benefits of the hadith is that it is not permissible for a person to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by his brother, whether he knows that the proposal was rejected intentionally or not, or whether he is ignorant of whether it was rejected or not. That is, if you hear that a man proposed to a woman and you do not know whether he was rejected or not, is it permissible to propose? The apparent meaning of the hadith is that it is not permissible, and this is the truth, that it is not permissible. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) linked the ruling to the mere proposal; if he proposed, do you understand? This situation is not free from three categories:
The first category: that he knows it was rejected.
The second category: that he knows it was accepted.
The third category: that he is ignorant. In this case, whether he is mostly convinced that it was accepted or that it was rejected, or the two are equal, the categories are therefore three: that he knows it was rejected, and in this case, if he knows it was rejected, it is permissible to propose. Where do we take this from the hadith? Because if it was rejected, the proposal is no longer standing, is it not, Rashid? If it was rejected, the proposal is no longer standing, its effect has ended, okay.
That he knows it was accepted, and here there is no doubt that it is what?
The student: It is forbidden.

The Shaykh : That it is forbidden for him.
And there is no problem in these two places, or there is no problem in these two categories.
The third category: that he does not know whether it was accepted or rejected. Under this, there are three situations: that he is mostly convinced it was accepted, that he is mostly convinced it was rejected, that the two are equal. In these three situations, it is not permissible according to the stronger opinion to propose a woman who has already been proposed to by his brother. It is not permissible, clear, everyone? Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) linked the ruling to what? To the proposal, not to the acceptance. And some scholars went to the permissibility of proposing in this situation. What is this situation? If he does not know that it was accepted and does not know that it was rejected, they said: Because until now, his right has not attached to the woman, it has not attached, until now it has not been accepted, so his right has not attached to the woman. But this opinion is contrary to the apparent meaning of the hadith, contrary. And because the woman, even if she has not accepted or her guardians, she may have been inclined toward acceptance. So if the second man proposes to her, what? She turns away from the inclination toward accepting the second, so this becomes an aggression. And in sales , even though the sale has not been concluded, but if the seller is inclined toward the buyer, it is not permissible for you to bid against him, this is like it. So the correct opinion is that it is not permissible to propose until he knows that it was rejected.
He said: . This is the second situation, if the proposer knows that the proposer left the proposal for the woman and turned away. But by what means does he know? It was mentioned to us that he knows by what? By explicit statement, he says: By Allah, I proposed to the group but I turned away, or he knows from the news of a trustworthy person that he turned away. The important thing is that if he left it, the proposal is permissible. Why? Because the proposal is no longer standing, the man turned away.
The third situation: . If he gave him permission and said: O so-and-so, I know that you mention so-and-so, and I have proposed to her, but I give you permission. In this situation, it is permissible to propose.
So the permissibility of proposing a woman who has already been proposed to by a person occurs in three situations: that he knows it was rejected, the second: that the proposer leaves the proposal and turns away from it, and the third: that he gives him permission. Now, the apparent meaning of the hadith is that if he gives permission to another, it is not permissible for anyone other than the one given permission to come forward to propose, because the hadith explicitly states . And as we said in the explanation of the hadith, a person may give permission to one person and not to another, and the original ruling is prohibition, and respecting the proposer until a proof establishes that this original ruling has ceased.