Women's Initiative in Proposing Marriage to Righteous Men: A Normative and Empirical Analysis through the Concept of Iffah

Siti Tohirotus Sholikkhah

doi:10.63222/pijar.v3i1.36

Authors

Siti Tohirotus Sholikkhah State Islamic University Salatiga, Salatiga, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63222/pijar.v3i1.36

Keywords:

Honor, Righteous Men, Selfless Giving, Women

Abstract

This study examines the Islamic legal standing of women who take the initiative to offer themselves in marriage to righteous men, viewed through the concept of iffah (self-purity). Although social tradition in Indonesia often regards this practice as taboo, Islamic jurisprudence normatively permits it, provided women observe modesty, proper etiquette, and Shariah boundaries. Using a descriptive quantitative design, data were collected through questionnaires administered to 40 purposively selected respondents with a basic understanding of Islamic teachings. Item validity was assessed using Pearson's product-moment correlation, reliability using Cronbach's alpha, and the relationship between variables was tested through linear regression (t-test). The results show that women's initiative to propose significantly affects the preservation of iffah (p = 0.003 < 0.05), whereas the prospective husband's religious righteousness has no statistically significant effect (p = 0.332 > 0.05). These findings suggest that public acceptance of a woman's marriage initiative depends more on how the act is conducted within the boundaries of chastity than on the man's piety alone. The study highlights the need for broader public education on the Islamic legal principles governing marriage proposals, so that women's rights to take initiative in marriage can be exercised without compromising personal purity, particularly in the contemporary digital era.

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