Lynda

Submitted by sam (United Kingdom), Feb 12, 2007 at 22:31

Hi Lynda,

I think it'd be more fitting for me to ask you to prove your faith if you only keep it stored in your heart. But anyway I can't prove anything as I am only human such as yourself.

There really isn't such a thing as being a certain religion in your heart or feeling it and then willingly acting out against it. For instance it is easy for someone to say 'I'm Christian/ Hindu/ Muslim/ Jew' or whatever and then to go and steal or to commit rape or simply to swear or disrespect another, so that 'heart' excuse that people tend to use often is not logical and I have heard it time & time again. Mistakes are permitted surely but from that there needs to be realization and change. It's almost like being 5% committed to a religion because you're worried about what will happen after death which is a strange approach considering relationships require 100% commitment in order to work, jobs require 100% commitment, mothering does so...everything seems to require 100% except religion and by that I mean dedication to the one who created u/ us.

Like praying 5 times a day, Ramadan fasting, khelwa or 'the isolated mixing of unrelated sexes being haram', not to consume, store or work with pig or alcohol, never to slap another across the face, never to enter another mans land/nation and do so much as cut down a tree…and on & on it is an Islamic law, and a common one that a Muslim woman is absolutely not allowed to marry a non-Muslim man or else she has abandoned Islam much in the same way that a Muslim man is not allowed to marry Atheists, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists...etc and if he meets & wants to marry a non-Muslim then it should only be a true believer of the Jewish or Christian faiths (and even then it is not recommended same as marrying a Muslim who doesn't follow Islam, but it is not haram).

I did not read it out of a questionable book; it is not something you pick out like a rumour in newspapers. Perhaps it's because I speak Arabic & I've attended lectures where the Qur'an, Hadith, Qisas-al-anbeya2 (stories of the prophets) have been studied I have certain knowledge that non-Arabic speakers won't necessarily have though I do know non-Arabic speakers who know this simple piece of information and in a more educated way than myself. If a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim without knowing that she is no longer considered to be a follower of Islam then God forgive her for that & strengthen her to correct her ways.

The main factors are children and family in Islamic law. There's also the divorce issue: do you divorce his way or your way because it is much easier to divorce in Islam than it is in Christianity. Sex: Condoms are not permitted in Christianity but they are in Islam, Inheritance: In Islam a son is entitled to 2/3 with the daughter to 1/3 and if both parents pass away before the daughter marries then she becomes his responsibility in terms of expenditure, residency etc. A Muslim wife shouldn't share her earnings or inheritance with her husband if that's her will, however the husband must be responsible for all her expenses.

Muslims don't consume pork or alcohol & so if a spouse does indulge in those things then it will automatically supply mixed messages to kids as well as other things. If u have kids then boys being circumcised might become an issue. The idea of family is a major issue and u you can read books about prophets and the companions to know the basics of how they lived. Religion and especially Islam (because the Qur'an has never been changed or readapted) is timeless and God has made it in such a way to get across to people of all times and generations and cultures and that's why it is so resonant. If u start to think in that way u might understand the rule…if a Christian man for instance decided to marry a Muslim woman in the year 1539 he would be at free will to take her to his land and as u know travel for her would not have been easy as it is now so her family would probably never hear of her again.

I think it is a personal thing who you want to marry and so forth and if a Muslim woman is determined to marry a non-Muslim then so be it I don't really care so much about forcing opinions to be changed etc. I'm just informing for those who want to know and for those who don't...happy days.

I never stated you automatically get converted, I said if you wanna marry a non-Muslim man, then my personal opinion is that you can consider converting to his faith. because if you do marry a non-Muslim man then you have left Islam. Some women are lucky coz husbands will convert to Islam after marriage, but there's no guarantee.

There's a simple logic you should think about and it goes beyond life on earth...if you are one religion then you believe you know best about truth. if your hubby is another religion or no religion then he believes he knows best about truth...so in the end youre not benefiting each other because you can't compromise with religion if you both believe in different things.

Come judgement day one of you will be wrong or you both will be so, therefore you'll never enjoy each others company in the afterlife. Anyway sorry for any typos I won't bother reading what I wrote, I can go on & on all day…bye.

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