Question Summary:
i dont know anything about his home land except for what he has been telling me. what i am worried about is if i should decide to marry this man, what would happen if he does have a wife and family in his homeland?

Question Detail:

A friend of mine introduced a friend of his to me, the guy is Pakistani, and now this man would like to marry me, i am a South African Muslim woman who has never been married, nor do i have any children. i don't know whether or not to consider this man's proposal because in this country fake marriages are rife. i am however taking the time to get to know this Pakistani Man. Our level of communication is very bad, he doesnt speak English well and i dont know how to speak Urdu. i dont know anything about his home land except for what he has been telling me. what i am worried about is if i should decide to marry this man, what would happen if he does have a wife and family in his homeland?

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
You are a female. The person from is a male. We do not know whether your friend is a male or female. If it is a female then it means the person is her friend which is wrong and Islamically unacceptable. If it is a male, then it means you have a male friend which is also Islamically unacceptable. Shariah prohibits friendship of the opposite gender. It is not free of fitna.
Nevertheless, reverting to your query, we advise you to be cautious. There are many foreigners in our own country who marry local women. Some are honest and sincere but many are not. In many instances, foreigners marry local women and after having achieved their objectives (whatever they may be) they abandon their wives and return to their country. The matter becomes worse if she has a child/children from the foreigner. Many local women have been in such a predicament and then request for the annulment of their marriages. You should not be hasty in your decision. We strongly advise local woman who marry foreigners to enter into a pre-marital contract of (Tafweez-ul-Talaq) wherein the autonomy of talaq subject to certain conditions given to a responsible person from the girl’s family or to an esteemed organization like the different Jamiats. This is merely to ensure getting talaq in a situation of being abandoned. However, it is upon you to guard yourself from being a victim of such a situation. Consult with appropriate family members and decide with caution.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah