An Examination and Critique of Makhtouba Proposal as Being Haram in Imamiyah Jurisprudence

Proposal is one of the oldest customs of marriage, for which numerous jurisprudence rulings have been established in Islam. One of the cases discussed by the jurists is proposing to a woman who has already been proposed to by another and the first suitor still maintains his proposal. In the current study, through the library method and the analysis of jurisprudential arguments, the ruling of the Makhtoubah proposal has been explained from the perspective of Imamiyah jurisprudence. The findings suggest that one of the main reasons for this debate is the prophetic narration narrated by the Sunnis, which forbids the proposing to a woman who has been proposed by another Muslim man (Makhtoubah proposal). This narration has made proposal of Makhtouba absolutely prohibited, but all jurists consider it permissible to propose to Makhtouba who did not respond to his previous suitor and did not express his satisfaction with sarcasm. There is a difference of opinion only about proposing to a Makhtouba who has given a positive answer to the previous suitor, and a group of jurists have considered it haram. In addition to the Holy Prophet's narration, they have also insisted on other arguments such as the rule of harming a believer as haram, who say that by rejecting the argument or evidence of this narration, the violation of the scope of harming a believer as haram, as well as insisting on the principle of Isalat al-Hal, there is no problem in proposing a Makhtouba.