) Did the Prophete SAW married Ahlel kitaab without them converted to Islam?
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:
Assalamoualaikum.
Praise be to Allah, Master of the Worlds and Creator of mankind.
I would be grateful if I can get some information(historical facts,from Qur`an
and Hadith) on the question of marrying Ahlel Kitaab.Along,I have those
specific questions:
(1) Did the Prophete SAW married Ahlel kitaab without them converted to Islam?
(2)
Ahlel kitaab from those days and nowadays are not the same as well as Muslims
from then and now are different,is the statement `People of the Book are no
longer the same therefore the law no longer applies`?
(3) If
one wants to take for spouse either a Christian or a Jewish woman, what steps
should be followed?
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(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
Marry people of book jews christians
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 5 Surah
Maidah verse 5:
5 This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful
unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful
unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers but
chaste women among the People of the Book revealed before your time
when ye give them their due dowers and desire chastity not lewdness nor secret
intrigues. If anyone rejects faith
fruitless is his work and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who
have lost (all spiritual good).
Your
Question-(1): Did the Prophete SAW
married Ahlel kitaab without them converted to Islam?
Except for the
first wife of the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Khadijah (r.a.), all his wives had
accepted Islam before the Messenger of Allah (saws) chose to marry them. Hadrat Khadijah (r.a.) was married to the
Prophet Mohamed (saws) almost fifteen years before he (saws) was appointed to
the office of Prophethood by Allah Subhanah; and she is credited by being the
first person and also the first woman who accepted Islam after the appointment
of Prophet Mohamed (saws) to the office of Prophethood by Allah Subhanah.
The Prophet (saws) did marry Hadrat Safiyyah binte Huayy
who was born a Jew, but it is reported that she accepted Islam at the time of
her marriage to the Prophet (saws).
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 6183 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
When Safiyyah heard that Hafsah had called
her a Jew's daughter she wept. Allah's Messenger (saws) came in where she was
while she was weeping and asked her what was making her weep. When she told him
Hafsah had called her a Jew's daughter the Prophet (saws) said, "You are a
Prophet's (Musa (a.s.)) daughter (in lineage), your paternal uncle (in lineage)
was a Prophet (Haroon (a.s.)), and you are married to a Prophet (Mohamed
(saws)), so what has she to boast of over you?"
Your
Question-(2): Ahlel kitaab from those days and nowadays are not the same as
well as Muslims from then and now are different,is the statement `People of the
Book are no longer the same therefore the law no longer applies`?
Beloved brother in Islam, just as any woman (or man) who
declares the testification of faith in Allah and His Last Messenger will be
regarded as a legal ‘muslim’ in the Sight of Shariah Law, any woman who is born
into or professes their belief as a Jew or a Christian will be regarded as one
amongst the ‘People of the Book’ in the Sight of Shariah Law. Just as the marriage of the legal ‘muslim’
who has declared the testification of faith is considered lawful in Shariah
Law, a marriage between a believing man and an eligible sister from amongst the
‘People of the Book’ will be absolutely lawful and legal in the Sight of
Shariah Law.
There is a huge misunderstanding and confusion in the
Muslim Ummah today that the People of the Book of today are not the same and
they commit shirk, therefore the laws of the permissibility of their food and
the marriage with their woman are forbidden to the believers. Allah Subhanah Himself in the Quran declares
that the People of the Book commit shirk and are disbelievers, but in spite of
that He has given them a special status as the People of the Book to them, and
made it permissible for the believers to marry amongst their woman and eat of
their food; if they wish to do so.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah
Taubah verse 30:
30 The Jews call Uzair a son of Allah and the Christians call Christ
the son of Allah! That
is a saying from their mouths; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers
of old used to say. Allah's curse be on
them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah
Maidah verses 72-73:
72 They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ, the son of
Mary." But said Christ: "O
children of
73 They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for
there is no god except One Allah. If
they desist not from their word (of blasphemy) verily a grievous penalty will
befall the blasphemers among them.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisaa verse 171:
171 O people of the Book! Commit
no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but Truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more
than) a Messenger of Allah, and His Word which He bestowed on Mary, and a
Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will
be better for you: for Allah is One Allah: Glory be to Him: (far Exalted is He)
above having a son! To Him belong all
things in the heavens and on earth. And
enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.
Even when the Quran was being revealed, the Christians
believed in the falsehood that Prophet Jesus (a.s.) was (I seek refuge in
saying this!) the son of Allah Subhanah!
But in spite of their this false belief and blasphemy, Allah Subhanah
has permitted the believers to marry amongst the chaste woman of the People of
the Book, if they choose to do so.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 221:
221 Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters) until they believe; a slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman
even though she allure you. Nor marry
(your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: a man slave who believes is
better than un unbeliever even though he allure you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the
fire. But Allah beckons by His grace to
the Garden (of Bliss) and forgiveness and makes His Signs clear to mankind: that
they may celebrate His praise.
Indeed, Allah Subhanah has forbidden the believers to
marry amongst the ‘mushriks’ (polytheists or idolators). Even though the Quran holds the Jews and the
Christians guilty of the abominations of blasphemy, disbelief and ‘shirk’;
Allah refers to them as the People of the Book because unlike the other
‘mushriks’, the People of the Book in essence believe in the true concept of
monotheism or One God through the Divine Scriptures that Allah Subhanah sent
towards them, but they themselves twisted the Truth and invented false beliefs
without any authority.
Besides believing in the essence of monotheism, the People
of the Book believe in all the other aspects of faith: ie. in the concept of
the Messengers, in the concept of Divine Books, in the concept of the Angels,
in the concept of
Therefore the statement that the People of the Book at the
time of the Revelation of the Quran and the People of the Book now are not the
same and thus the laws of permissibility of marriage and food towards them do
not apply are absolutely baseless and false!
Dear and beloved brother in Islam, Allah Subhanah Alone
has the Right to declare what is lawful and what is unlawful, and just as it is
a grave sin for one to declare lawful what Allah has declared as unlawful
(swine, wine, gambling, etc.); it is also a grave sin to declare unlawful what
the Lord Himself has declared as lawful.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 116:
But say not for any false thing that your
tongues may put forth "This is halaal and this is haraam!", so as to ascribe false things to Allah. For those who ascribe false things to Allah
will never prosper.
Allah Subhanah has declared it lawful for the believers to
consume the food of the People of the Book and to marry amongst their chaste
women, if one wishes to do so…thus let no one convince you otherwise!
Your
Question-(3): If one wants to take for spouse either a Christian or a Jewish
woman, what steps should be followed?
Regardless of whether one marries a believing woman or a
woman from amongst the People of the Book, all the obligatory conditions of an
Islamic marriage namely the proposal and acceptance, determination of mehr,
availability of two witnesses, and the consent of the guardian of the bride
must be fulfilled for the marriage to be legal and valid in the Sight of
Shariah Law and of Allah Subhanah.
The steps or conditions that relate to a marriage of a
believer remains exactly the same, regardless if he chooses to marry a
believing woman or a woman from amongst the People of the Book.
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
Wister