Direct marriage proposals by men are legitimate under Islamic precedent

Evidence

Nadia seemed a little puzzled and asked me why I thought this was proper advice. When I explained, she said, “But there is nothing wrong in a man ap proaching a woman for her hand in marriage directly as long as his intent is serious and he is not playing with her. This occurred many times even at the time of the Prophet.” — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1138

Categorization

• XREF: Contradicts the Western/liberal assumption that Islamic piety mandates strict formal courtship; connects to Mahmood’s broader point that the analyst’s own moral intuitions shape ethnographic reading.