The Prophet ﷺ said, "A woman is married for four reasons: for her wealth, for her lineage, for her beauty, and for her religion. So choose the one of religion, may your hands be filled with dust."
عن النبي ﷺ قال: تنكح المرأة لأربع: لمالها، ولحسبها، وجمالها، ولدينها، فاظفر بذات الدين تربت يداك.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Marriage (5090), and Muslim narrated it in the Book of Breastfeeding (1466:53), both through the route of Yahya bin Saeed (who is Qattan), from Ubaydullah, who said, Saeed bin Abu Saeed narrated to me, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, and he related it.These four qualities are among what is well known among people regarding the choice of a wife, and there is no command to seek them. Rather, what is recommended among them is choosing a wife who has religious devotion. Lineage here means nobility, because a noble person counts for himself and his forefathers fine achievements and praiseworthy qualities.Suitability, or being a suitable match, is not the sum of these four qualities. The majority of the scholars held the view that Muslims are equal to one another as suitable matches for marriage, so that, for example, a freed slave is a suitable match for a woman of Quraysh. This is why the Prophet ﷺ married Zaynab bint Jahsh, of the tribe of Asad, to his freedman Zayd bin Haritha. She is the one whose story Allah mentioned in the Quran, saying, "So when Zayd had no more need for her" [Ahzab 33:37].The jurists have a lengthy discussion on the question of suitability in marriage, some of which I will mention at the end of the chapter.