Re: Interfaith marriages
Najim bhai, i have come to a few conclusions with my limited undertsanding about this issue.
#1
Muslims today consider it okay to marry "people of the book" *but how do you define "people of the book" *? I believe the real "people of the book" are the people who were the real and true followers of Hazrat Isa (AS) and Hazrat Musa (AS). Jews and Christians today cannot be considered "People of the Book" because they have deviated heavily (according to muslims) from the original teachings of Hazrat Isa and Hazrat Musa. Just because they call themselves Christians and Jews doesnt mean we have to take their word for it.
If we use the same thinking above, then sunni muslims should have no problem marrying shia's, ismaili's, ahmadis, bohris etc because each sect considers itself muslim and are People of the Book.
It is the prevailing hypocricy among desi muslim men that they have conveniently allowed themselves to marry christian and jew women without going through the inconvenience of asking them to convert. If you can marry someone who considers Hazrat Isa a son of Allah (naoozubillah), you shouldnt have any problems marrying into another sect within Islam.
My conclusion is that People of the Book do not exist today. So dont even bother thinking of marrying a non-muslim (doesnt matter if youre a guy or a girl).
#2
Women cannot marry non-muslims? Why not? If a man can marry a non-muslim and allow his spouse to stay non-muslim, a woman should be allowed to do the same. I believe this is a desi muslim concoction in an effort to be over protective. Can someone please find me the verse in the Quran that states women cannot marry non-muslims while men can. If there is no verse then how about a strong Hadith.
I do believe that a muslim man or woman cannot marry a non-muslim without satisfying a few conditions. The conditions are
- The non-muslim person accepts Islam and they both live as muslims OR
]The muslim person leaves Islam (*there is no compulsion in religion) and they both continue living as non muslims
Thanks