Fatwa

On the marriage between a Muslim and a woman from among the people of the Scriptures

In Allah’s name, His mercy is infinite and eternal! Hoping on the Single God, the Posessor of true knowledge and wisdom, I pray to Him for strength and skills to express a humble judgement that would correspond to the truth of God’s Word, and not to the temporal knowledge of this age.   

The Islamic canonical marriage law admits marriages between Muslims and women from among the people of the Scriptures (Christians and Israelites). In all times – both in the old times of the Prophet and today – pious Muslims could and can marry Christian and Judaic women.

   At the same time, today in a non-Islamic country a number of problems in interconfessional marriages arise. These problems are mainly connected with cultivating in children Islamic religion, Islamic world view, etc. The population factor is of great significance as well: marriages of Muslims to non-Muslim women reduce to a certain extent the chances of Muslim women to find Muslim husbands, thus making them marry non-Moslem men, which is canonically prohibited.

   The vast majority of authoritative Islamic scholars, including the theologians of the four schools of thought, are unanimous in the opinion that a marriage between a Muslim and a woman from among the people of the Scripture is not advisable.[1]  As an argument they refer to the example of the second pious caliph ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who, being the governor of the righteous, ordered Muslims to divorce their Christian and Judaic wives. All of them, except for Huzeyfa, got their divorces. Whereas he divorced his wife after some time. Thus, he showed that there were no direct and strict ban on such marriage in Islam, but that it was not admissible to ignore the caliph’s order.

‘Umar’s order (may the Lord be pleased with him) was far from being groundless[2].  Proceeding from the canonical permissibility of the marriages between Moslems and the women from among the people of the Scriptures[3] many Muslims married Christian and Judaic women, but they did not show any further intention to convert their wives to Islam or to reveal to them the welfare of Islamic chastity.

   Certain theologians especially those of the hanafit school of thought impose a prohibition (haram) on such marriages in a non-Muslim country. For in non-Muslim countries the (personal) religious status of a Muslim has not been recognized so far. It is still a very tackling issue as far as a Muslim’s right to live according to the norms of his religion (including the performance of the obligatory five time prayer) is concerned. Moreover it is still an open issue whether a Muslim has a full right to lead his life in line with Shariat laws (including the issues of family and marriage relations, the inheritance right, etc.). Of equal importance are certain nationalistic, antiislamic organizations (which exist in several countries) and propaganda in mass media. And as a result (probably, under the influence of the above mentioned factors) a non-Muslim wife may get an intention to bring up her children in another (non-Islamic) religious tradition. Such unfavourable state of affairs is bound to create a damaging impact first of all on those families where the wife (mother and educator of her children, keeper of the household) is not a Muslim woman: the spiritual and religious foundation of the family is becomes weaker, the family religious practice becomes more difficult to observe and the conditions of implementing Islamic spiritual tradition deteriorate.

   Of course the Islamic canonical matrimonial legislature admits marriage between a Muslim and a Christian or a Judaic woman. But one should bear in mind that this permission resulted from God’s great wisdom and blessing. A man, who follows the path of truth, will certainly try to help his neighbors to find this way as well. He will do all his best so that the members of his family should hear God’s Word and fulfil His commandments in practice.

   The Muslim who marries a Christian or an Israelite woman  because of her beauty, but who afterwards does not take any measures so that she might understand and accept Islamic Truth, becomes subject to the above mentioned order of caliph ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). If he ignores this warning, he endangers his welfare in both worlds.

   To reiterate everything that has been said afore one comes to the following conclusion: a marriage of a Muslim to a pious and chaste Christian or Israelite woman is canonically permitted; yet one should pay special attention to the fact that the status of the husband in the family should correspond to Islamic laws; it is also advisable for the wife to convert to Islam; moreover it is obligatory to cultivate in children religiousness commanded in the Holy Qur’an and the Sunna of the Last Prophet Muhammad (may the Lord greet and bless him), faith in the Single and Unique God among Whose last Apostles were Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them).

   May the Lord guard us from hasty deeds and show us the way of reaching happiness in this world and in the hereafter!    

 I beg God, He is the Compassionate and the Merciful, to accept this work which has been produced only with the hope for His kindness and forgive me my probable mistakes and sins, for the only intention I had was to bring good to people who follow His path, He is worshipped by everyone and everything that is in heaven and on earth.