Marriage: Inter-faith marriages –
Muslim man, non-Muslim woman

Q352 :Marriages between a Muslim man and a Christian
or Jewish woman is allowed but not renetmended. If nevertheless a
Muslim man wants to marry a Christian or a Jewish woman, how is this
marriage solemnized?

A352 : You have adequately expressed my view on
inter-faith marriages. Perhaps it is useful to say that when a Muslim
man marries a Christian or a Jewish woman, he does not netmit a sin.
However, it is strongly discouraged. This is certainly stating the
general rule. Individual cases must be considered on their own merits.
It is possible that Muslim man finds himself in a situation when
marriage with a non-Muslim woman is desirable, perhaps because he has
very little choice. I know one man who had to leave his home country
and live in a Western European country, where Muslims were a small
minority. He spent the best of three years to marry a Muslim woman from
any Muslim country. All his attempts failed. Eventually, he had no
choice but to marry a woman from the place in which he lived. It is
well known that of all other religions, we are allowed to marry women
of the Christian or Jewish faiths. If one finds himself in a situation
where he has to marry a follower of either of these two religions, his
marriage ceremony is conducted in the same way as a marriage with a
Muslim woman. Why should it be otherwise? What is required in such a
marriage is the same as a marriage between a Muslim man and a Muslim
woman: An offer of marriage made by the woman’s father or guardian and
an acceptance made by the man in the presence of two Muslim witnesses.
The dower, which is a sum of money, in cash or kind, must be specified
as being given by the bridegroom to his bride. The question is whether
the woman’s father, who is a Christian or a Jew, may act for her in
such a marriage. The answer is in the affirmative, because she is not a
Muslim. But the witnesses should be Muslims because their role is
different from that of the bride’s father. They may be required to
confirm the actual marriage in front of a judge. In order that their
testimony be binding on a Muslim party, the husband in this case, they
must be Muslims. The bride’s father is acting for her and since both
are non-Muslims, there is no objection to him doing what a father
should do for his daughter when she is married. She is entitled to
receive a dower in the same way as a Muslim woman enjoys that right.

Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )