Interfaith Marriage for Muslim Women: This Day are Things Good and Pure Made Lawful Unto You

Interfaith Marriage for Muslim Women: This Day are Things Good and Pure Made Lawful Unto You Johanna Marie Buisson Introduction The issue of interfaith marriage in Islam is no frivolous question. It has long been neglected, even purposely occulted, inasmuch it touches upon two extremely sensitive topics in Islamic tradition, namely the close relationship with believers of other religions (specifically the Jews and Christians) on the one hand and the autonomous status and free choice of Muslim women on the other hand. Islamic tradition generally accepts interfaith marriage for Muslim men as lawful (halal), while it clearly prohibits interfaith marriage to Muslim women. This lack of reciprocity, Islamic scholars argue, would be supported by their interpretation of one Qur'anic verse (5:5) and by some ahadith (Prophetic sayings). The Sirah of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) also indicates that the Prophet of Islam married a Christian woman (Maria, a Coptic Egyptian) and a Jewish woman (Safiyya), which, instead of being interpreted as a sign of reciprocal openness, is traditionally understood as the confirmation of the permission given to Muslim men only, by analogy to the maleness of Prophet Muhammad, to the exclusion of Muslim women. Now, some contemporary authors, Muslim thinkers, and exegetes of the Qur'an (such as Asma Barlas (), Amina Wadud, Riffat Hassan, Khaleel Mohammed based in the United States, Asma Lamrabet in Morocco, Amel Grami in Tunisia, Abdel Kader Merabet in Algeria, Kussay Fakhir Al‐Mousawi in the United Kingdom, and many others) challenge the classical interpretation of verse 5:5 in the name of Qur'anic internal consistency and coherence, linguistics, and reason. This is a burning issue as the disclosure of the Qur'anic meaning may have dramatic consequences on the lives of innumerable Muslim women today, all over the world, but especially in multi‐confessional countries such as Western secular states as well as many African and Middle‐Eastern countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Israel), but also in Asia and Indonesia, where interfaith marriages remain a sensitive topic. In many countries where national law is based on Islamic legislation, on such or such Fiqh, depending on the particular school of law this country adheres to, female nationals are formally prohibited by law to get married to a non‐Muslim man, regardless of his other faith. In many Western secular countries, many Muslim women are being restricted in their marriage choice too, if not coerced into marriage, on the grounds of this religious formal prohibition, cautioned by most religious scholars, therefore also preventing them from socially and culturally mixing further into the society they live in and belong to. In the United States, such interfaith unions are still met with disapproval: In a 2007 survey (conducted by the Pew Research Centre), 30 percent of Muslim men and 46 percent of Muslim women said they oppose interfaith marriage. Religiosity distorts the intolerance further: Many more devout Muslim men (70 percent) than Muslim women (54 percent) think marrying a non‐Muslim is acceptable. Worse, in many majority‐Muslim countries, cases of interfaith marriage often lead to the so‐called honor killings (Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, and others) as Muslim family members and neighbors do not tolerate such unions for their female relatives. Here is the verse at stake (Holy Qur'an, verse 5:5), in a standard contemporary English translation by Yusuf ‘Ali: 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). Religious authority and the prohibition of interfaith marriage for Muslim women: the verdict of hegemonic patriarchal authority Classical Qur'anic interpreters and commentators, in their vast majority, both Sunni and Shi'ah, stated the prohibition of interfaith marriage for Muslim women, while recognizing interfaith marriage...