Assalaamualaikum,
Is it legally permissible in Islam to break an engagement if the woman after engagement finds a more compatible match. The particular scenario is that the woman happens to be a scholar and agreed to an engagement with a non scholar . Now a potential spouse in the form of a scholar, Hafidh, and participant of dawah has come into the picture. Is it permissible for her to break the previous engagement in the light of these new developments?
الجواب وباللہ التوفیق
The engagement is a promise and to break a promise without any reasonable and valid excuse is a sin. In the situation enquired about, if that Non-Aalim person is non-religious or there is an apprehension of any harm to occur from that person then preference can be given to the Aalim-e-Deen.
واللہ اعلم بالصواب