Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

salaam wa alikum burhan bhai, how are you, may ALLAH swt reward u for the work u are doing . allhumdolillah, barhan bhai thanx to you that i learned a lot abt islam and now i am able to ask you abt it,

brother i would like to know that u answer a question abt that If the woman is a Jew or a Christian, it is not obligatory for her to convert to Islam before (or after) the marriage; and she is permitted to follow her religion if she wishes to do so and If the woman does not wish to convert of her own free will, she is allowed to remain married and practice her religion of Jewism or Christianity. The marriage will be legal and valid in Islam.

brother wht i have learned that it is not obligatory for her to revert to islam before marrige but she has to after marrige, or the marrige will be void, cuz how can u live with a non muslim girl doing a shirk by considering ISA (as) a son of ALLAH swt,
and all the things christian do which is not allowed in islam, i hope ALLAH swt will forgive me if i said something wrong,

plz reply me soon ALLAH hafiz 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Marriage to Christian girl Legal

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Your Question: brother i would like to know that u answer a question abt that If the woman is a Jew or a Christian, it is not obligatory for her to convert to Islam before (or after) the marriage; and she is permitted to follow her religion if she wishes to do so and If the woman does not wish to convert of her own free will, she is allowed to remain married and practice her religion of Jewism or Christianity. The marriage will be legal and valid in Islam.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5:

5 This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) revealed before your time when ye give them their due dowers and desire chastity not lewdness nor secret intrigues. If anyone rejects faith fruitless is his work and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

Allah Subhanah has made it permissible for the believing men to marry chaste women from amongst the Jews and the Christians, if they wish to do so; such a marriage will be deemed absolutely legal and valid in the Sight of Shariah and Allah Subhanah.

Your Statement: brother wht i have learned that it is not obligatory for her to revert to islam before marrige but she has to after marrige, or the marrige will be void,

Dear and Beloved Brother, there is absolutely nothing in the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah which dictates and makes it obligatory for one to revert to Islam, if one does not wish to do so! Neither is there anything in the Quran and the Sunnah which declares that the marriage between a believer and a Jewish or Christian woman would become null and void if the woman does not revert to Islam.

If the woman wishes to revert to Islam of her own free will, she will be welcomed in this deen of Truth; but if she wishes to follow her own deen and does not wish to revert to Islam even after her marriage to the believer, the marriage will still be considered absolutely legal in the Sight of Islamic Law, Allah Subhanah, and the believers.

Beloved brother, the issue here is not what is desirable and preferable, but what is lawful and unlawful; and a marriage between a believing man and a chaste woman from amongst the People of the Book is absolutely lawful in the Sight of Allah and Islamic Law, even if the woman chooses to follow her deen of Judaism or Christianity.

Your Question: cuz how can u live with a non muslim girl doing a shirk by considering ISA (as) a son of ALLAH swt, and all the things christian do which is not allowed in islam,

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 30:

30 The Jews call Uzair a son of Allah and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah! That is a saying from their mouths; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verses 72-73:

72 They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ, the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah, Allah will forbid him the garden and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.

73 They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy) verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 171:

171 O people of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but Truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah, and His Word which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One Allah: Glory be to Him: (for Exalted is He) above having a son! To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.

Even when the Quran was being revealed, the Christians believed in the falsehood that Prophet Jesus (a.s.) was (I seek refuge in saying this!) the son of Allah Subhanah! But in spite of their this false belief and blasphemy, Allah Subhanah has permitted the believers to marry amongst the chaste Christian woman, if they choose to do so.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 221:

221 Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters) until they believe; a slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman even though she allure you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: a man slave who believes is better than un unbeliever even though he allure you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the fire. But Allah beckons by His grace to the Garden (of Bliss) and forgiveness and makes His Signs clear to mankind: that they may celebrate His praise.

Indeed, Allah Subhanah has forbidden the believers to marry amongst the ‘mushriks’ (polytheists or idolators). Even though the Quran holds the Jews and the Christians guilty of the abominations of blasphemy, disbelief and ‘shirk’; Allah refers to them as the People of the Book because unlike the other ‘mushriks’, the People of the Book in essence believe in the true concept of monotheism or One God through the Divine Scriptures that Allah Subhanah sent towards them, but they themselves twisted the Truth and invented false beliefs without any authority.

Besides believing in the essence of monotheism, the People of the Book believe in all the other aspects of faith: ie. in the concept of the Messengers, in the concept of Divine Books, in the concept of the Angels, in the concept of Paradise and Hell in the Hereafter, and in the concept of the Divine Decrees. Because their belief in the elements of ‘emaan’ or ‘faith’ are so close to the belief of the believers in their essence, the Lord Most Merciful has granted them a special status and separated them from the other ‘mushriks’, and named them The People of the Book.

There is a huge misunderstanding and confusion in the Muslim Ummah today that the People of the Book commit shirk, therefore the laws of the permissibility of their food and the marriage with their woman are forbidden to the believers. Allah Subhanah Himself in the Quran declares that the People of the Book commit shirk, but in spite of that has given them a special status as the People of the Book to them, and made it permissible for the believers to marry amongst their woman and eat of their food; if they wish to do so.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan