Islamic Teachings regarding the Marital Relations of a Muslim and an Infidel — Seal of the Prophets Vol. 3
Introduction
In this discourse from The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) details the historical events and scholarly insights surrounding Islamic Teachings regarding the Marital Relations of a Muslim and an Infidel.
Book Series: The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra)
Section: I – Commencement of the Second Era of Life in Madinah
Pages: Book pp. 16–20 (PDF pp. 34–38)
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: [Acceptance of Abul-‘Asra, the Son-in-Law of the Holy Prophet (sa)] | Next: [Praise of the Holy Prophet (sa) with Regards to Abul-‘Asra] »
Historical Account
were revealed piecemeal on three occasions. First and foremost, a short time after the migration, the verses of Sūrah Al-Baqarah were revealed, wherein it was instructed that no Muslim man was permitted to marry an idolatrous woman, nor could a Muslim woman marry an idolatrous man. As such the Holy Qur’ān states:
وَ لَا تُنكِحُوا الْمُشْ رِكِينَ حَ ت َّىٰ يُؤْ مِنُوا…َّوَ لَا تَنكِحُوا الْمُشْ رِكَاتِ حَ ت َّىٰ يُؤْ مِن
“O Ye Muslims! Marry not idolatrous women until they believe… And give not believing women in marriage to idolaters until they believe.”
([Al-Baqarah (2:222)])
However, this verse did not explain what was to be done in the case that the Nikāḥ had already been performed. Therefore, verses of Sūrah Mumtaḥinah were revealed after the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah in regards to this issue, in which it is stated that the Nikāḥ of a Muslim woman cannot be upheld with an idolatrous man in any circumstance, nor is it permissible for a Muslim man to continue a Nikāḥ with an idolatrous woman. As such, God the Exalted states:
فَلَ ا تَرْ جِعُوهُنَّ اِلَى الْكُفَّارِ لَا… ٍيَا اَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَ نُوا اِذَ ا جَاءَكُمُ الْمُؤْ مِنَاتُ مُهَاجِرَ ات
ِوَ لَا تُمْ سِكُوا بِعِصَ مِ الْكَوَ افِر… َّهُنَّ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ وَ لَا هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُن
“O Ye Muslims! When believing women come to you as refugees… send them not back to the disbelievers. These women are not lawful for them, nor are disbelieving men lawful for Muslim women…and O Ye Muslims! Hold not to your matrimonial ties of the disbelieving (idolatrous) women.”
[Al-Mumtaḥinah (60:11)]
After this, in the last days of the Holy Prophetsa the verses of Sūrah Al-Mā’idah were revealed, in which it was expounded that a Muslim man can marry a woman from the Ahl-e-Kitāb, (i.e., Jewish or Christian, etc.). Therefore, the Holy Qur’ān states:
َوَ الْمُحْصَ نَاتُ مِنَ الْمُؤْ مِنَاتِ وَ الْمُحْصَ نَاتُ مِنَ الَّذِين… ُاَلْيَوْ مَ اُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّ يِّبَات
ْاُوتُوا الْكِتَ ابَ مِن قَبْلِكُم
“O Ye Muslims! This day lawful for you are… chaste believing women and chaste women from among those who were given a Book (of law) before you.”
[Al-Mā’idah (5:6)]
Through this last injunction a clear distinction has been established between the Ahl-e-Kitāb and those who are not from the Ahl-e-Kitāb. In other words, where the marriage of a Muslim man to a non-Muslim woman from the Ahl-e-Kitāb has been deemed legal, his marriage to an idolatrous women who believes in no revealed book has been deemed unlawful in all circumstances.
Now the question may arise that the Sariyyah of ‘Īṣ took place prior to the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah, in which Abul-‘Āṣ was captured; therefore, how is it possible that the Holy Prophetsa applied the injunction revealed after the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah, mentioned in Sūrah Mumtaḥinah on the occasion of the Sariyyah of ‘Īṣ? The answer to this is that no doubt, at first glance, this seems like an objectionable fact. However, if this instance is analysed it can be reconciled in two manners. Firstly, no doubt, although the injunction of Sūrah Mumtaḥinah, in which marriage to idolatrous women have been prohibited in all circumstances was revealed later, but nonetheless, the injunction of Sūrah Al-Baqarah (in which at least future marriage to idolatrous women was prohibited) had already been revealed. Perhaps the Holy Prophetsa had interpreted this very injunction with caution and instructed Ḥaḍrat Zainabra to refrain from marital relations until Abul-‘Āṣ becomes a Muslim, and then later, a concurrent injunction was also revealed. Secondly, it is also possible that as some scholars have written, in actuality, the Sariyyah of ‘Īṣ and the incident of the capture of Abul-‘Āṣ took place after the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah, but historians have erroneously placed it before the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah. However, in our opinion, the first explanation seems more correct and plausible. Allāh knows best.
[Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, pp. 126-127, Sariyyatu Zaid-ibni Ḥārithata Ilal-‘Īṣ, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)]
Another question which also arises here is that if the Nikāḥ of Ḥaḍrat Zainabra was considered annulled on account of the disbelief of Abul-‘Āṣra, then why were they permitted to live together after he became a Muslim, without a new Nikāḥ? One school of thought has answered this question by asserting
19
that the narration which states that they were rejoined without a new Nikāḥ is not even accurate. By contrast, the narration which states that the Nikāḥ of Ḥaḍrat Zainabra was performed again is more credible. However, the true answer is that undoubtedly, the Nikāḥ had been annulled. Yet since Ḥaḍrat Zainabra had not been married anywhere else, for this reason when Abul-‘Āṣ became Muslim, a new Nikāḥ was not deemed necessary, as if this had been a period of suspension. In other words, during that period, if Ḥaḍrat Zainabra was to have had a Nikāḥ somewhere else that would have been lawful. However, since she was a free woman, for this reason she was returned to her previous husband without a Nikah, upon his becoming a Muslim. The example of this is like a missing man, whose wife after the passing of a period of time, becomes free for marriage with another man. However, if her husband returns before she marries again, the previous Nikāḥ shall prevail. Allāh knows best.
In this regard, it shall also be appropriate to mention the wisdom behind why the Nikāḥ of a non-Muslim man with a Muslim woman, or a Muslim man with a woman not from the Ahl-e-Kitāb, is forbidden in Islām. Therefore, it should be known that in the first case, i.e., the prohibition of a Nikāḥ with a non-Muslim man is obvious. To give a Muslim girl to a non-Muslim man in marriage is to put the religion of the girl at risk with one’s own hand and to open the door of Islām’s decline, rather than its progress. Islām cannot accept this option in any case. Then, to take a disbelieving girl in marriage who is not of the Ahl-e-Kitāb, has been prohibited because such a girl will be completely ignorant of the principles of religion. Hence, not only will she prove detrimental to the upbringing of the children but her heart will not truly align with her husband’s, if he is a true Muslim. Consequently, they will remain deprived of true marital happiness. In contrast, the wisdom behind allowing one to take an Ahl-e-Kitāb girl in marriage is so that firstly, the path of the expansion of international relations remains open. Secondly, such a girl would prove somewhat beneficial to the upbringing of children, on account of her familiarity with the principles of religion. Thirdly, it is more probable that the affectionate influence of the husband may draw her into Islām. Allāh knows best.
However, all said and done, it should be remembered that indication is found in both the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth that marriage to a girl from the Ahl-e-Kitāb in Islām is an exceptional case. It has been permitted in special circumstances under special wisdom. In normal circumstances it has been deemed preferable, in as much as possible, that the Nikāḥ of a Muslim man be performed with a
Muslim woman.
[Al-Baqarah (2:222) An-Nur (24:33) Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābuṭ-Ṭalāq, Bābu Qaulillīhi Ta‘ālā Wa Lā Tankiḥul-Mushrikāti Ḥattā Yu’minna Wa La-Amatun Mu’minatun…, Ḥadīth No. 5285]
Praise of the Holy Prophetsa with regards to Abul-‘Āṣra
It has already been mentioned that the son-in-law of the Holy Prophetsa, Abul- ‘Āṣ bin Ar-Rabī‘ was a near relative of Ḥaḍrat Khadījahra from the Quraish, i.e., her nephew. Despite being a polytheist, his treatment towards his wife was very kind, and after he became a Muslim, the relationship of both husband and wife also remained pleasant. Therefore, the Holy Prophetsa would often praise Abul-‘Āṣra in this regard, saying that he had treated his daughter well. Abul- ‘Āṣra passed away in the era of the caliphate of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakrra in 12 A.H. His honourable wife, however, passed away in the lifetime of the Holy Prophetsa. Her daughter, Amāmah, who was very dear to the Holy Prophetsa, was married to Ḥaḍrat ‘Alīra after the demise of Ḥaḍrat Fāṭimahra, but had no children.
[Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Faḍā’ili Aṣḥābin-Nabiyyisa, Bābu Dhikru Aṣhārin-Nabiyyisa Minhum Abul- ‘Āṣ-ibnur-Rabī‘, Ḥadīth No. 3729]
[Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 8, p. 260, Dhikru Banāti Rasūlillāhisa/ Zainabu Bintu Rasūlillāhisa, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 4, p. 52, Thumma Kānat Sanatu Ithnatai ‘Ashrata Minal-Hijrah/Ḥajjatu Khālidin, Dārul- Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) (Publishers) Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 4, pp. 321-322, Fī Dhikri Aulādihil-Kirām, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)]
Ghazwah of Banū Liḥyān – Jamādi’ul-Ūlā 6 A.H.
(September 627) The painful occurrence of the Aṣḥābur-Rajī‘ has already been mentioned in the accounts of 4 A.H. On this occasion, 10 innocent Muslims who had been sent for peaceful preaching were ruthlessly murdered by deceit. At the root of this entire mischief was the hand of the Banū Liḥyān, which at the time resided between Makkah and Madīnah, in the Valley of Ghurān. Naturally, the Holy Prophetsa was deeply saddened by this event, and since the behaviour of the Banū Liḥyān still remained hostile and mischievous and the danger that they would become the cause of future mischief against the Muslims still existed, the Holy Prophetsa thought it administratively appropriate to somewhat
Book Series: The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 3)
Section: I – Commencement of the Second Era of Life in Madinah | Navigation: « Previous: [Acceptance of Abul-‘Asra, the Son-in-Law of the Holy Prophet (sa)] | Next: [Praise of the Holy Prophet (sa) with Regards to Abul-‘Asra] »