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Fatwa CenterProposing to a Christian woman who got proposed to by a Christian man
Question
Salam Alaikum! Is it permissable to propose to an already engaged/ proposed christian woman? I know that its not permissable to propose a beleiving woman who has already been proposed. But what in case of a christian woman? JazakAllah Khairan!
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If the man who proposed to her is a Muslim and they agreed to get married, then it is not permissible for another Muslim man to propose to her. There is evidence in the Sunnah that it is forbidden for a Muslim man to propose to a woman if another Muslim man has already proposed to her; this is clarified in Fatwa 86998.
This applies to both a Muslim woman to whom someone proposed or to a woman of the People of the Book; what should be considered is the man who proposed to the woman and not the woman who got proposed to by the man. The fact that this woman is Christian does not make it permissible (for another Muslim man) to propose to her as long as the one who proposed to her is a Muslim.
On the other hand, there is a difference of opinion among the jurists 
in case the man who proposed to the woman is a Thimmi (a non-belligerent non-Muslim living in a Muslim state), and the majority of the scholars are of the view that the same ruling applies to the non-Muslim living in the Muslim country in the same way it applies to the Muslim. The term ‘Muslim brother’ in the Hadeeth has a general meaning which applies to most cases and it is not intended to mean only the Muslim, rather it applies to a Muslim and to a non-Muslim.
Nonetheless, some other jurists are of the view that it is permissible to propose to a woman to whom a Thimmi has proposed; their evidence is that in principle this is permissible unless there is a text prohibiting it, and the prohibition is restricted to the first suitor being a Muslim, so if it is other than a Muslim, the matter is permissible. However, the view of the majority of the scholars is stronger.
Allaah Knows best.
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