Interfaith marriage between Muslims and Christians is discussed in the Ashtiname of Muhammad, a treaty between Muslims and Christians that was recorded between Muhammad and Saint Catherine's Monastery, which is depicted in this icon.[1]
In traditionalist interpretations of Islam, the permissibility for Muslims to engage in interfaith marriages is outlined by the Quran: it is permissible, albeit discouraged, for a Muslim man to marry Non-Muslim women as long as they are identified as being part of the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Sabians) and it is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a Non-Muslim man.[2] Thus, traditional interpretations of Islamic law do recognize the legitimacy of a Muslim man's marriage (nikaah) if he marries a Non-Muslim woman, but only if she is Jewish or Christian.[3] On the other hand, a Muslim woman may not marry a Non-Muslim man.[3][4] Additionally, it is required in Islam that the children of an interfaith marriage be Muslim.[5][6]
In some societies outside of Muslim-controlled territory, interfaith marriages between Muslims and Non-Muslims are not uncommon, including marriages that, in Sunni Islam, contradict the historic understanding of ijmāʿ (the consensus of fuqāha) as to the bounds of legitimacy.[9]
In general, while Muslim men are allowed to marry non-Muslim women, the Quran instructs them to take measures to avoid such acts and instead marry Muslim women.[3] No such allowances are made for Muslim women, for whom interfaith marriage is strictly forbidden.[10] Muslim men who do engage in an interfaith marriage must ensure that the non-Muslim woman in question can be identified as being among the "People of the Book" and is actively religious; if she renounces her faith and does not convert to Islam, the marriage is automatically invalidated.[3][2] Due to the complications associated with marrying a non-Muslim woman—particularly the possibility that the couple's children may choose to follow the wife's faith instead of Islam or be irreligious altogether—many Islamic scholars discourage or outright forbid all interfaith marriages.[11]
For Muslim women
Although the Quran contains no explicit prohibition for Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men, some scholars argue that the fact that it only mentions the allowance for Muslim men means that Muslim women are prohibited from interfaith marriages.[10] Kuwaiti-American professor Khaled Abou el-Fadl writes that he did not find a single Islamic scholar in classical jurisprudence who disagreed with the prohibition of marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men.[12]
Conduct with Christian women
In the case of a Christian–Muslim marriage, which is to be contracted only after permission from the Christian party, the Christian wife is not to be prevented from attending church nor from engaging in her own prayer and worship. This conduct is according to the Ashtiname of Muhammad, which was signed between Muhammad and Saint Catherine's Monastery in 623 CE.[1][13]
Modern practice
Prevalence and attitudes
Despite Sunni Islam prohibiting Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men, interfaith marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men take place at substantial rates, contravening the traditional Sunni understanding of ijmāʿ.[4][9][7] The modern tradition of reformist and progressive Islam has also come to permit marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men,[7] with Islamic scholars opining this view including Khaleel Mohammed, Daayiee Abdullah, and Hassan al-Turabi, among others.[8] In the United States, for example, about 10% of Muslim women are married to non-Muslim men, and about one in ten Muslims are married to non-Muslims overall, including about one in six Muslims under the age of 40 and about 20% of Muslims who describe themselves as less devoutly religious.[14]
Recent studies on interfaith marriages in Muslim-majority countries have shown that parental attitudes remain more negative toward marriage of a daughter as compared to a son, and that "stronger religious belief was associated with more negative attitudes"; this was less in the case of Muslims who perceived Islam and Christianity as more similar than distinct.[15]
Legality in Muslim-majority countries
In most Arab countries, interfaith marriages are allowed as long as the husband is Muslim and the wife is Jewish or Christian.[16] There are, however, some Arab countries that do not enforce such laws: in Lebanon, there is no civil personal status law and marriages are performed according to the religion of the spouses; and it has been legal for women in Tunisia to marry men of any faith or of no faith since 2017.
Turkey allows marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men through secular laws.[17] In Malaysia, a non-Muslim must convert to Islam in order to marry a Muslim and any children produced from unions involving a Muslim are automatically registered as Muslims at birth.[18]
^ abAhmed, Akbar S. (11 January 2013). Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise. Routledge. p. 62. ISBN978-1-134-92417-2. The Quran speaks favourably of the people of the Book. For example, Surah 3, verse 199, carries a universal message of goodwill and hope to all those who believe, the people of the Book irrespective of their religious label--Christian, Jew or Muslim. Muslims can marry with the people of the Book,
^ ab(Leeman 2009, p. 757):These passages are traditionally interpreted as a general prohibition on marriage outside Islam for Muslim women.116 Similar passages117 forbid Muslim men from marrying non-Muslim women. However, another verse specifically authorizes Muslim men to marry women from the People of the Book.118 The Qur’an offers no such express allowance (or prohibition) for Muslim women.119 Although the Qur’an contains no clear prohibition against marrying People of the Book, traditional scholars have reasoned: “If men needed to be given express permission to marry a [non-Muslim], women needed to be given express permission as well, but since they were not given any such permission then they must be barred from marrying a [non-Muslim].”
