Expert: Jamshaid Zubairee - 3/21/2010

Question
Assalam-o-Alaikum Mr. Zubairee,

My question is does Saudi Arabia allow a muslim man to marry a Christian or Jewish woman.

Answer
Yes!
They are but scholars say that it better not to in these times. Others say as long as she teaches the children Islam then its okay but by experience and stories I have heard, it ruins the lifes of the offspring. If they aren't both Muslims.
Every brother considering marrying a non Muslim women should read this.

Interfaith Marriages
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~imr…

                           Interfaith Marriages

       Muslim men  and women are told  to seek faithful spouses  with a
       strong,  good  belief,  and  not  allow  non-Muslim standards of
       selection influence them.

       Muslim men  can marry only  Muslim, Christian, or  Jewish chaste
       women, while Muslim women can marry only chaste Muslim men.

           Allah (s.w.t.)  said: {{This day are  (all) good things made
           lawful  for you.  The food  of those  who have  received the
           Scripture  is lawful  for you,  and your  food is lawful for
           them. And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the
           virtuous  women of  those  who  have received  the Scripture
           before  you  (lawful  for  you)  when  you  give  them their
           marriage  portions  and  live  with  them  in  honor, not in
           fornication,  nor taking  them as  secret concubines.  Whoso
           denies the faith, his work is  vain and he will be among the
           losers in the Hereafter.}} [Al-Qur'an: Al-Ma'idah (5:5)].

       A Muslim man is discouraged  from marrying a non-Muslim woman if
       there is no Islamic State or if  he is not living in an existing
       Islamic state, since the non-Islamic states do not recognize his
       rights as head of the  family to raise the children Islamically.
       On the contrary, the children will  most likely be brought up in
       their mother's religion, since the  Muslim husband does not have
       his Islamic rights in his non-Muslim wife's country.

       There are many  tragic examples of Muslim men  who tried to take
       their  children to  their Muslim  countries after  they divorced
       non-Muslim wives. The women in  many of these cases succeeded in
       bringing  the  children  back  to  be  raised in the non-Islamic
       societies  as  non-Muslims.  The  fathers  are  referred  to  as
       kidnappers  (of their  own children)  in the  non-Islamic media.
       Unfortunately,  even the  governments in  Muslim countries these
       days help the  non-Muslim wives to get custody  of the children.
       This  is due  to the  absence of  an Islamic  state which  would
       protect Muslim children from being kidnapped by non-Muslim wives
       to be raised as non-Muslims.

       Muslim  men  should  consider  these  issues  before  they marry
       non-Muslim women, especially when the man is strongly influenced
       by  her physical  appearance. A  Muslim man  should look  to the
       future and  consider his duties  toward his children.  The cases
       mentioned show clearly  the damage that can be  done to children
       in interfaith marriages, and while a personal sin may be easy to
       forget and repent from, one may never overcome the problems that
       arise  because  his  children  were  raised  as non-Muslims as a
       result of  his negligence concerning providing  the right spouse
       and community for them. Children have the right to be brought up
       in an Islamic environment by good Muslim parents.

       The  benefits of  marrying a  non-Muslim woman  are minimal when
       both live  in a non-Islamic  state. The woman  and her relatives
       would not  see how Muslims live  as a community, nor  would they
       have close contact with family,  should the Muslim man decide to
       marry her and live outside  the Islamic State. Marrying a chaste
       Christian  or  Jewish  woman  in  a  non-Islamic state should be
       considered as a last resort and  as the only alternative to keep
       him from falling into adultery. Men, however, should be aware of
       the fact that most women in non-Islamic societies do not qualify
       as chaste women in Islam,  (i.e. abstention from unlawful sexual
       activities). Some Muslim men  ignore these conditions and ignore
       the commands of Allah when they are misled and fooled by a smile
       from a non-Muslim woman.

           Abdullah  Ibn  `Abbas,  a  famous  companion  of the Prophet
           (s.a.w.) and  a famous scholar, said  that Muslim men should
           not  marry Christian  or Jewish  women from  people who  are
           enemies of Islam.

       Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi, a contemporary Muslim scholar, said that
       the Christian  or Jewish women can  be married only if  the four
       conditions summarized below are satisfied:

       She must be  Kitabiyyah, i.e. Christian or Jewish  by faith, and
       not by virtue  of birth into a Christian  or Jewish family. Many
       women  who  live  in  Christian  or  Jewish  societies today are
       atheists, Buddhists  or Bahai's. These women  are prohibited for
       Muslim  men.  A  woman  who  commits  apostasy,  by  becoming  a
       non-Muslim after being a Muslim, would not be allowed to marry a
       Muslim man, since apostasy is much worse than unbelief.


       She must be Muhsanah, which means chaste and virtuous. Women who
       are involved  in illicit relationships  with men are  prohibited
       for Muslim men. Most non-Muslim  women these days do not qualify
       as Muhsanat  (chaste and virtuous women  who abstain from sexual
       activities outside  marriage), and Muslim men  should fear Allah
       and keep this condition in mind.


       The woman  should not be from  people who are fighting  Islam or
       are helping others  to fight Islam. Since Israel  is at war with
       Islam, all Jews around the  world are helping Israel, Muslim men
       should not  marry Jewish women  is she is  from people who  help
       Israel.


       There should  be no threat  or possible harm  from marrying her.
       For example, if a man's children would not be raised as Muslims,
       he should not marry her. If  the courts in a non-Islamic society
       would give the  children to her in the case  of divorce, then he
       cannot  marry her,  unless she   agrees that  he would  have the
       children in the case of divorce.

       Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi  also said that Muslim men  may not marry
       Christian  or Jewish  women if  the Muslim  community is a small
       minority in a huge non-Muslim  society, and such marriages would
       make it impossible for Muslim women to find Muslim men to marry.
       This is  classified under "limiting the  allowed" in the Islamic
       jurisprudence. Dr.  Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi used the  example that if
       all people  grew cotton instead  of wheat, the  government would
       have  the right  to stop  them from  doing so,  since wheat is a
       necessary food ingredient, even though growing cotton is allowed
       in normal cases.

       Non-Muslim women who repent and  accept Islam are treated as any
       other  Muslim if  their acceptance  of Islam  is sincere and not
       merely for  the purpose of  marrying Muslim men.  Islam forgives
       all that  was before it.  Some people, however,  accept Islam by
       name only to marry a Muslim, without showing the least change in
       their  lifestyles to  prove that  they are  following Islam. One
       should not marry from such people.

       There are many Muslim girls of a marriageable age who are living
       in non-Islamic countries,  and it is the duty  of the Muslim men
       to protect  these girls from  marrying non-Muslim men,  which is
       absolutely prohibited  in Islam. If Muslim  men loosely practice
       their  right to  marry Christian  or Jewish  women, the  Muslims
       girls  in non-Islamic  societies  will  be forced  into unwanted
       circumstances  and  Muslim  men   will  be  at  least  partially
       responsible  and will  get their  share of  the punishment  from
       Allah.

       In  considering  marriage  to  a  non-Muslim  woman a man should
       remember  that  marriage  is   more  than  the  private  marital
       relationship. A good Muslim woman would provide her husband with
       total security, comfort, trust,  tranquility, and happiness, and
       would raise the  children as good Muslims. A  man would not have
       to see his children taken to a church every Sunday without being
       able to prevent it or live  with the concern that his wife would
       teach his  children un-Islamic traditions. It  is much easier to
       trust a Muslim  woman than to trust a  non-Muslim woman who does
       not fear Allah,  and know that He is watching  her all the time.
       And  certainly a  woman who  does not  fear Allah,  who sees and
       knows everything, will not fear or  obey her husband who is only
       home in the evenings.

           Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) said: {A woman is chosen as a wife
           for her wealth, beauty, family,  and faith. Win the one that
           has the faith or you  would ruin your life.} (Al-Bukhari and
           Muslim).

       The  following verses  from the  Qur'an beautifully  give us the
       guidelines for selecting the right spouse:

           Allah   (s.w.t.)  said:   {{Do  not   marry  Mushrik   women
           (idolatresses)  until  they  believe;   a  slave  woman  who
           believes is better  than a free woman who  does not believe,
           even   though  (the   idolatress)  woman   may  appear  very
           attractive to  you. (Likewise) Do not  marry (your girls) to
           Mushrik men (idolaters) until they  believe; a slave man who
           believes is  better than an unbeliever,  even though he (the
           Mushrik) may  attract you. These Mushriks  invite you to the
           fire,  but Allah,  by His  Grace, invites  you to His Jannah
           (Heaven), and forgives by His leave, and (Allah) makes clear
           His  messages to  people so  that they  might bear them into
           mind.}} [Al-Qur'an: Al-Baqarah (2:221)].

Thanks
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