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What is the ruling of the Sharia on keeping the shabaka after the engagement is broken off by the suitor's side, following three years?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The engagement, the engagement ring (Al-Shabka), and the gifts that follow are all preliminaries to marriage. If the engagement ring is presented as a gift to the fiancée, the suitor does not have the right to take it back, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "It is not lawful for a man to give a gift or grant a donation and then take it back, except for a father regarding what he gives to his child. The one who gives a gift and then takes it back is like a dog that eats until it is full, then vomits, and then returns to its vomit." However, if it is presented as part of the dowry, it remains with the fiancée and becomes her property upon consummation of the marriage, or is shared equally in case of divorce before consummation. The engagement ring must be returned to the suitor if the marriage contract is not concluded, regardless of the reason for withdrawal, because engagement is not a binding contract.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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