Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

is marriage between sunnat girl and shiaa guy haram or halal??

jazakom Allahu kula kheir  

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Marriage between Shia and Sunni

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77-78:

O you who have believed, do ‘rukooh’ (bow down) and do ‘sajdah’ (prostration), and worship your Lord Allah Alone, and do righteous deeds: it may be that you attain true success! Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as one should. He has chosen you for His service, and has not laid on you any hardship in your religion. Therefore, be steadfast in the religion of your father Abraham. Allah had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you (muslims) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.

Shia, Sunni, Ismaili, Hanafi, Shafei, etc. are names which man has invented himself and have absolutely no basis or authority in Islamic Law or in the Sight of Allah Subhanah. The name that Allah Subhanah has chosen for the believers is ‘muslims’ and a believer who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day must be proud to be recognized by the name their Lord Creator has chosen for them: ie. muslims!

Any person who verbally declares belief in Allah and in Prophet Mohamed (saws) being the Last and Final Messenger of Allah will be regarded as a legal muslim in the sight of Shariah, and all the rights accorded to a believer will be accorded to him in full: he can marry amongst the believers, he may visit the Sacred House of Allah, he will be given a muslim burial, he will inherit from his muslim parents, his children will inherit from him, etc.

The people who claim to follow the ‘Shia’ or ‘Sunni’ school of thought, both believe in Allah and in Prophet Mohamed (saws) as the Last and Final Messenger of Allah; thus they will be regarded as legal believers in the sight of Shariah, and a marriage between two non-mehram believers will be considered absolutely valid and legal in the Sight of Shariah and Islamic Law.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan