No ring after 4 years...religious reasons are complicating things.

I (25F) have been with my boyfriend (26M) for 4 years now. He graduated over a year ago, has a full-time job, and runs a successful business. I still have one year left in my degree, but for over a year, I’ve been working in a post-graduate role earning the same as him. When we started dating, we both agreed our goal was to date with the intention of marriage.

About 2.5 years into the relationship, he shared that in his culture and religion (he’s Muslim), I would need to sign a religious marriage contract. This completely caught me off guard because, as a non-religious person with strict Christian parents, I’ve always avoided anything tied to religion. We’ve spent hours discussing this and even went to counseling. For him, signing the contract is crucial because "it's tradition" and his family wouldn’t respect the marriage without it, even though they adore me. For me, signing it is a dealbreaker—it’s a matter of principle as it dictates my rights (and any future children’s rights) based on my gender. Additionally, I’m uncomfortable committing to anything religious.

The situation is further complicated because, for the document to be valid, my dad would need to sign it, and he’s extremely anti-Muslim. He’s already said he wouldn’t attend the wedding if it included anything Islamic (which is a separate issue altogether).

Despite family pressures, my boyfriend and I want to proceed without the religious contract or potentially with a non-religious prenuptial agreement. We're on agreement on finances, how we want to raise kids, lifestyles, literally everything. Last month, he strongly hinted that he was planning to propose soon, possibly during our trip to Dubai. I thought it might happen on New Year’s Eve with the fireworks or on the beach, but it didn’t. At the end of the trip, I told him I had been expecting a proposal, and he seemed upset, saying he wasn’t sure yet. I got frustrated and asked why he hinted it was happening soon if he wasn’t ready.

Now, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to pressure him, but I feel like I can only wait another six months at most.