Q. I am a Filipino Christian and I am now convinced that Islam is God’s religion. Before I declare myself a Muslim I would like to know answers to some very important questions. First, must I separate from my Christian husband if he refuses to join me in embracing Islam? What if he raises no objection to my becoming a Muslim, but does not follow suit? Second, I am told that I could marry another man, but in my home country, divorce is not allowed. Should I marry, would I be open to a charge of bigamy? Third, I have 3 volumes of Toward Understanding the Qur’an by Maulana Maudoodi. I want to know if further volumes have been published.
C. S., Hail
A. For many years I have been repeating a view that is practically known to most people, and all scholars that when a married woman becomes a Muslim, then the marriage is nullified, either instantly or when her waiting period is over, if her husband remains a non-Muslim. This view is based on the ruling that no Muslim woman may be married to a non-Muslim. Just as a Muslim woman cannot enter into a marriage contract with a non-Muslim, a woman may not remain married to her non-Muslim husband once she becomes a Muslim. But I have always said that I am only a student of Islamic law and jurisprudence. There is certainly much that I do not know.
Very recently I read what Imam ibn Al-Qayyim has written on this question in his book Ahkam Ahl Al-Thimmah, (or Rulings for non-Muslim subjects). He points out that scholars up to his generation differed a great deal on this question, and he enumerates nine different views. He then discusses these views and states the argument of scholars who rule that marriage is nullified once either party has become a Muslim and the other has not.
Ibn Al-Qayyim speaks at length on one of the nine views which is based on a report by Muhammad ibn Sireen on the authority of Abdullah ibn Yazeed Al-Khutami, a companion of the Prophet’s, stating that “a woman embraced Islam, while her husband was a Christian. Umar ibn Al-Khattab gave her the choice either to separate from him or to stay married to him.” Ibn Al-Qayyim explains that this does not mean that she stayed married to him in the full sense of the word. She simply waits for him. When he becomes a Muslim, she is his wife, even if that takes several years. He comments: “This is the most valid view on this question, as evidenced by the Sunnah. It is the view preferred by Ibn Taimiyah.” He also explains that the marriage in this case becomes an option, not a binding status. This means that the woman may choose to terminate it, or to keep it, provided that she does not put it into effect until her husband becomes a Muslim.
Explaining his and Ibn Taimiyah’s preference, Ibn Al-Qayyim, who was one of the top scholars in our history, takes up the case of Zaynab, the Prophet’s daughter, who became a Muslim in Makkah. Her husband was very late in adopting Islam. She stayed married to him, living with him in Makkah, even after the Prophet had migrated to Madinah.
In the Battle of Badr, her husband, Abul-Aas ibn Al-Rabie’, was in the unbelievers’ army and he was taken prisoner by the Muslims. On his release, it appears that the Prophet asked him to send Zaynab to Madinah, which he did. Six years later, Abul-Aas, still a non-Muslim was in Madinah, under the protection of his wife. She asked the Prophet, her father, whether he could stay in her home. He said: “He is your husband, but he may not have you.” A few weeks later, and after he had been to Makkah and back to Madinah, Abul-Aas embraced Islam, and he was reunited with his wife, without a new marriage contract. What the Prophet’s order to his daughter means is that if the wife is a Muslim and her husband is not, they may not have intercourse. That is because the marriage remains in force only as an option. The woman has the other option of separation and marrying a Muslim man. (This is the summary of the view Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim supports).
Imam Ibn Taimiyah says: “To say that once either spouse has become a Muslim while the other has not, separation takes effect, whether the marriage has been consummated or not, is very flimsy. It runs against what is well known to have been the repeated practice under Islamic law.” Ibn Taimiyah records hundreds, if not thousands, of cases of people becoming Muslim before their marriage partners during the lifetime of the Prophet, and the marriage was not nullified in any of their cases.
The sum up of this view is that the woman who becomes a Muslim, while her husband remains a non-Muslim, has a choice either to separate from him, or stay married to him without sexual contact until he becomes a Muslim. Sheikh Yussuf Al-Qaradhawi, a leading contemporary scholar, also discusses this question, and concludes by putting forward two views which may form the basis of rulings on individual cases. The first view is that given by Ali ibn Abu Talib, which allows the marriage to remain valid unless the woman leaves her hometown to live with a Muslim community. The second is the one advanced by Az-Zuhri, a famous scholar of the generation that followed the Prophet’s companions. According to this view, the couple remain married unless a court ruling is issued to separate them.
Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi also states that in these views we find much scope for women who choose to become Muslim. Many would hesitate to do so for fear of losing their children and families. This view, he says, may be hard to accept by many Muslims, because it is at variance with what they have learned and accepted over a long period of time. But we all know that Islam has allowed many situations to continue, if they were started before the parties to them became Muslim, while it would not allow them to be initiated by those who are Muslims already.
I have here quoted great scholars who have commanded great respect throughout the Muslim world for many generations, and a contemporary scholar of the highest caliber. Their views must be taken with the seriousness and respect of which they are worthy.
Maulana Maudoodi’s book, Toward Understanding the Qur’an, is the English version of his Urdu commentary Tafheem Al-Quran. Six volumes have already been published. Volume 7 has been completed and is currently in the press. It should be out within a few weeks. All volumes are obtainable from the publishers: The Islamic Foundation, Markfield Conference Center, Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicester LS67 9SY, UK. For contact through the Internet, the site is: www.islamic-foundation.org.uk.
Unnecessary complications
Q. Is a man’s religion the basis for issuing a visa for his wife to come and visit him? I have had no end of problems when my wife tried to visit me, simply because on my passport I am shown to be a Christian, while in fact I embraced Islam more than 16 years ago. In spite of getting all the necessary information over to the Saudi Embassy, they declined my wife a visa. Please comment.
S.R. Bin Uayan, Jeddah
A. It is amazing that your wife has been denied a visa although you obtained the necessary papers for her to come over. It is certainly not the case that a person should be a Muslim before he or his wife or family are issued with visas to the country. There are tens of thousands of people working in the country who are non-Muslims, and many of them have their wives and children with them, either living indefinitely or staying on short visits. Why did you have this problem, with so many complications as you have described, is beyond our understanding. However, sometimes an official suspects a case of fraud or misrepresentation or hiding information, and he takes an attitude on this basis. It is so difficult to change that attitude because the suspicion has to be removed first. It is also hard for the person concerned to determine what to do in the circumstances, because he does not know the suspicion or its basis. Hence, he does not address it and the suspicion remains, and the problem becomes even more intractable. I am not sure how to advise you. May God help you with an easy solution to your case.
Answer to Mr. S. Ahmed in Riyadh
Many thanks to you for your questions. It is beyond the scope of this column to carry a detailed description of Madinah and its historic sites. The only thing that is important to visit in Madinah is the Prophet’s Mosque, as it is one of only 3 mosques throughout the world to which Muslims may travel in order to visit. It is also good to visit Al-Baqee’, the Madinah graveyard where most of the Prophet’s companions are buried.
The supplication you sent me is not particularly authentic. Therefore, I do not see much benefit in translating it.
A woman who become a Muslim may visit her parents even though they continue to follow their faith. However, if they pressure her to renounce her new faith, she must not visit them.
The prayer we offer on entering the mosque is a greeting to that mosque. It is two short rakaahs. If one does not offer it, because the congregational prayer is expected shortly, that is fine.