He—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was asked about a man who had proposed marriage, after which another man made a competing proposal: Is this permissible?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. It is established in the Sahīh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“It is not lawful for a man to make a competing marriage proposal over his brother’s proposal, nor to bargain over a purchase his brother is negotiating.”

Accordingly, the four imams, in their explicitly recorded statements, and other imams agreed that this is forbidden. They differed only over the validity of the second man’s marriage, holding two views.

The first is that it is invalid. This is the view of Mālik and of Ahmad according to one of the two reports from him.

The other is that it is valid. This is the view of Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad according to the other report, on the grounds that the prohibition concerns what preceded the marriage contract, namely the proposal.

Those who deemed it invalid argued that this entails, with even greater reason, a prohibition of the marriage contract itself. There is no disagreement among these imams that whoever does this disobeys Allah and His Messenger, although some of their followers disputed this. Knowingly persisting in sin undermines a man’s religious integrity, moral probity, and fitness to exercise authority over Muslims.