Is It Permissible to Propose Marriage Through Email?

27 October, 2025
Q Is it permissible in Islam to express interest in marriage through email or online communication, and what are the proper guidelines to ensure it remains within Islamic boundaries?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

It is permissibe to propose marriage over email or other digital means as long as the communication remains respectful and follows Islamic etiquette.


Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

There is nothing wrong in Islam in making a marriage proposal through email. A better approach would be to get someone to do it on your behalf, especially if you are a woman, for in certain cultures, they may be conditioned to consider it as unbecoming of a woman.

Having said this, I must rush to point out that during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), women and men used to propose. Even in the case of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his wife, Khadijah, initiated the marriage proposal to him. That is why there is no shortage of precedents from companions and pious generations who did the same thing.

👉 Explore more Islamic rulings on marriage:

Almighty Allah knows best.

About Sheikh Ahmad Kutty
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty is a Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada