Marriage between Muslim and Non-Muslim

[Mahatma Gandhi]

Salaam brothers and sisters,

Suppose a non-Muslim boy wants to marry a Muslim girl, is that possible? I know some of them say it's forbidden, but is that the consistent view throughout the Islamic community? Since it's a large community, I take it there are different views regarding Muslim-non-Muslim marriage?

I don't mean to start a debate on this, so please don't get the wrong idea about my intent. I'd just like to know whether such relationships are possible at all.

Mahatma

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Is there a verse in Quran, which supports the idea of forbidding marrying a non-Muslim?

 

[Pegg]

Yes muslim men may marry non muslim women belonging to the other Abrahamic faiths but women cannot

why is that?

 

[WorldCitizen]

this is the reasoning i have heard... men are dominant in the household, so children will look have to look up to him in their religious path and accept islam as their religion. also being in an interfaith marriage, the children will come across as confused which faith to choose, and because Islam is the last and final religion, according to majority of muslims, it will seem only right to be muslim. i guess its all about the future of the children...

 

[WorldCitizen]

the Quran is silent about the issue of women in marrying non-muslim, maybe and this is my opinion, it is so because of the age they were living in men were given right to choose whom to marry as long as they were from the Book, that is christians or jews.

 

[WorldCitizen]

Search - Understanding Islam

here some good discussions ive come across

 

[Peace]

Salam,

It is forbidden for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim. "Why?" The following link will answer that question:

Why Can't She Marry Me? - Social Life - counsels - OnIslam.net

 

[WorldCitizen]

Is there a verse in Quran, which supports the idea of forbidding marrying a non-Muslim?

 

[Bismillah]

why is that?

This is my reasoning in regards to the matter. The man is the financial pillar of the household. While the wife may and can pursue work her first and most important obligation is raising children in a healthy manner and establishing the household. In return the house is unequivocally her right.

If a non-Muslim man were to marry a Muslim women then the family itself would be dependent on the man for financial support. This would entail a host of problems including whether the money itself is halaal and if not it would be a disaster given that the family is dependent on it.

There is the issue of dowry and the substantial gift the bride traditionally receives in Islam as well as matters such as her making money which is traditionally thought of as hers as opposed to the husband's earnings being the domain of the entire family.

There is the issue of supporting the man's parents, who if he is non-Muslim would most likely be non-Muslim as well, creating further tension and diminishing the idea of the elderly being the source of both wisdom and spiritual guidance in the household.

There is the issue of how to categorize the family as either the non-Muslim man obligated to enlist in the army (a Muslim's duty) or if he is to pay the Jizyah (tax on non-Muslims). There is also the question of Zakat and whether the man is required to pay the charity tax that Muslim families are obligated to do so.

There is an obligation on the Muslim wife to perform the Hajj which is to be paid by the husband. There is the legitimate concern of the husband not funding such a necessary pilgrimage and then his absence in it. There are some schools of thought we believe that Hajj cannot be performed by women without a mahram (Hajj is no longer fard) because of the dangers posed to women. Though this claim is debated due to the changes in the modern world and the security that one now travels in (i.e planes cars trains). A monumental religious obligation is thrown into doubt.

These are some of the more practical reasons that I came up with regarding the issue.

 

[LuisDantas]

So ultimately it is due to a desire of making the expectations and responsibilities clear so that there are no sore disappointments later?

I can respect that. I can respect that a lot indeed. Even if I believe that more flexible arrangements must be pursued.

Thanks a lot for your comments, Bismillah!

 

[Vendetta]

why is that?

Ask a muslim...bismillah is the best one to answer

 

[Pegg]

This is my reasoning in regards to the matter. The man is the financial pillar of the household. While the wife may and can pursue work her first and most important obligation is raising children in a healthy manner and establishing the household. In return the house is unequivocally her right.

If a non-Muslim man were to marry a Muslim women then the family itself would be dependent on the man for financial support. This would entail a host of problems including whether the money itself is halaal and if not it would be a disaster given that the family is dependent on it.

There is the issue of dowry and the substantial gift the bride traditionally receives in Islam as well as matters such as her making money which is traditionally thought of as hers as opposed to the husband's earnings being the domain of the entire family.

There is the issue of supporting the man's parents, who if he is non-Muslim would most likely be non-Muslim as well, creating further tension and diminishing the idea of the elderly being the source of both wisdom and spiritual guidance in the household.

There is the issue of how to categorize the family as either the non-Muslim man obligated to enlist in the army (a Muslim's duty) or if he is to pay the Jizyah (tax on non-Muslims). There is also the question of Zakat and whether the man is required to pay the charity tax that Muslim families are obligated to do so.

There is an obligation on the Muslim wife to perform the Hajj which is to be paid by the husband. There is the legitimate concern of the husband not funding such a necessary pilgrimage and then his absence in it. There are some schools of thought we believe that Hajj cannot be performed by women without a mahram (Hajj is no longer fard) because of the dangers posed to women. Though this claim is debated due to the changes in the modern world and the security that one now travels in (i.e planes cars trains). A monumental religious obligation is thrown into doubt.

These are some of the more practical reasons that I came up with regarding the issue.

thanks Bismillah, your explanation is better then the one in the link above

From what you are saying it seems that culture plays just as much a role as religion in why a muslim woman cannot marry a non muslim. I understand the difficulties presented with marrying a non believer so i can see the wisdom in avoiding that circumstance...although i dont believe it should be alright for a muslim man to marry a non believer. I think it goes both ways and christians, both men and women, are advised to "only marry in the Lord"...although its not a forbidden law as it is in islam.

I just get a bit irked by the fact that men have the freedoms that women do not have which is why i asked the question. What is good for the goose is good for the gander in my books

 

[Vendetta]

It ain't fair

 

[Starsoul]

thanks Bismillah, your explanation is better then the one in the link above

From what you are saying it seems that culture plays just as much a role as religion in why a muslim woman cannot marry a non muslim. I understand the difficulties presented with marrying a non believer so i can see the wisdom in avoiding that circumstance...although i dont believe it should be alright for a muslim man to marry a non believer. I think it goes both ways and christians, both men and women, are advised to "only marry in the Lord"...although its not a forbidden law as it is in islam.

I just get a bit irked by the fact that men have the freedoms that women do not have which is why i asked the question. What is good for the goose is good for the gander in my books

Actually muslim men are Not allowed to marry non-believeing women, they are ONLY allowed to marry believing women of the clan of christianity and Judaism ( people of the book) and that too the practising ones.

Women in islam do have the freedom to choose their life partners among muslims, and by the emotional psyche of a woman i do understand why the ban is placed on them against marrying the non-believing men. But this is how i see it, not the scholarly opinion. Being a girl, i know how girls are so easily slipped for a few romantic 'right' kind of moves if a man makes on them , and are easily misled into thinking that a man will be forever loyal, sincere and have a long lasting relationship with her if she gives in herself to him ( in marriage or otherwise), and a non-believing man even if does marry her, will not be able to cope up with the religious duties that are binding on her and will not support her in her religious obligations which she cannot practice without support.

but on the other hand, it is highly recommended to muslim men to marry a good practising muslim women as the Prophet (pbuh) has quoted

"The most valuable precious in this world is a pious momina (practising muslim women)".

And in the Quran( similar words) that " A slave woman who is good at her practise of deen(islam) is much better for you than an infidel woman of worldly attributes"

There are two things in Islam, recommendations, and permissions.

Recommendations are held in higher order of preference, and permissions are made on exceptional cases, for ease of the society, should a situation arise which calls for that permission to be practiced for that specific situation.

For instance, in wars in the old days, there were instances several times when the women of the opposing army would observe the muslim men and ask them for protection and to be kept in their custody as they were wary of the conduct of their own men and some of them wanted to stay with the muslims.( most of them came from societies where women mostly served the purpose of concubines) .

Now, it is not allowed in Islam to live in a house with strange women, there is no concept of prisons in Islam, so such women were given options to choose from. They could go back, or should they choose to stay here they could help teach children if they were educated, or if they wished to study the religion, they could and if they accepted Islam , they would be taken care of with the status of a muslim woman , and also were free to marry the muslim men. So , muslim men were allowed to marry them out of necessity, but not recommended to.

And about the women who belong to the people of the book, Islam allows that on the grounds that only those people, who are good practising peoples of their book, since the differences that arise in situations when the women are not practising, are huge sometimes and eventually culminate in unpleasantness and divorce. I have rarely seen everlasting interfaith marriages among muslims and people of the book today though, since in the early days, the beliefs of the people of the book were somewhat similar to that of Islam ( monotheism and etc) but now the beliefs of the people of the book go quite in tangents to the core beliefs of islam.

Hence it isn't quite possible to be both a good practising muslim and be living in complete harmony with a good practising jew/christian woman forever, they are bound to be differences of significant level if people take their religions seriously. And relationships where your faith does not find comfort from your life partner can be really upsetting and disturbing in the long run.
Most scholars today have agreed upon that it is best for the muslim men to marry among their muslim women, and it is only under unavoidable circumstances ( if you reside in a country where its hard for you to find a good muslim woman, etc) should this permission may be practiced.

 

[kai]

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