Fatwa ID: 07083

 

Answered by: Maulana Mohammed Shahbaz Aslam

 

Question:

 

Girl from a sunni family wants to marry an Iraqi Shia?

 

 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

Answer:

 

It has to be noted that marriage is a blessed union that in the ordinary state is a sunah to be in and can be a source of drawing close to Allah, Most High. One of the intentions of marriage is to have pious children that will be raised to worship Allah.

 

One of the wisdoms that women are not permitted to marry non-Muslim men is due to the influence that men can exert over women, especially in close relationships.

 

Bearing the above in mind we should look at the mentioned situation. Sunni Islam, ahl us-sunnah wa-ljamaa’ah, is a wide group and contains differing groups. However, shias as a group are not from that group. There are wide differences between the differing shia groups:

 

1. Those with less grave differences, such as a preference for Sayyidunaa Ali, may Allah ennoble his being, over the Shaykhs Sayyidunaa Abu Bakr and Sayyiunaa Umar, may Allah be pleased with them. This would make them an innovator.¹
2. Those with greatly grave differences, such as those that believe in the slander of Our Mother Aisha², may Allah be pleased with her, or that Sayyidunaa Jibril erred in delivering the message to our Messenger Sayyidunaa Muhammad, may Allah send blessings and peace be upon him. This latter group are not considered Muslim and it would be impermissible to marry them.

 

As such it can be ascertained from the question what the particular beliefs involve. But in light of the first two paragraphs, it should be noted that if a person is raised on a certain belief and holds to it, and their family is on that belief then these will emerge, for example how will any offspring be raised or will Muharram be observed etc.

 

Thus, it would be advisable that unless the brother is willing to embrace the beliefs of ahl us-sunnah then it would be best to avoid marrying him, in some cases it maybe obligatory to not marry him.

 

 

Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.

Written by Maulana Mohammed Shahbaz Aslam

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

 

 

 

 

 

1. Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah, vol 2 page 263:

وَإِنْ كَانَ يُفَضِّلُ عَلِيًّا كَرَّمَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَجْهَهُ عَلَى أَبِي بَكْرٍ – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ – لَا يَكُونُ كَافِرًا إلَّا أَنَّهُ مُبْتَدِعٌ وَ

 

 

1. Ibid

وَلَوْ قَذَفَ عَائِشَةَ – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا – بِالزِّنَا كَفَرَ بِاَللَّهِ

 

 

1. Ibid

وَيَجِبُ إكْفَارُ الرَّوَافِضِ فِي قَوْلِهِمْ بِرَجْعَةِ الْأَمْوَاتِ إلَى الدُّنْيَا، وَبِتَنَاسُخِ الْأَرْوَاحِ وَبِانْتِقَالِ رُوحِ الْإِلَهِ إلَى الْأَئِمَّةِ وَبِقَوْلِهِمْ فِي خُرُوجِ إمَامٍ بَاطِنٍ وَبِتَعْطِيلِهِمْ الْأَمْرَ وَالنَّهْيَ إلَى أَنْ يَخْرُجَ الْإِمَامُ الْبَاطِنُ وَبِقَوْلِهِمْ إنَّ جِبْرِيلَ – عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ – غَلِطَ فِي الْوَحْيِ إلَى مُحَمَّدٍ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – دُونَ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ -، وَهَؤُلَاءِ الْقَوْمُ خَارِجُونَ عَنْ مِلَّةِ الْإِسْلَامِ وَأَحْكَامُهُمْ أَحْكَامُ الْمُرْتَدِّينَ كَذَا فِي الظَّهِيرِيَّةِ.

ص264 – كتاب الفتاوى العالمكيرية الفتاوى الهندية – مطلب في موجبات الكفر أنواع منها ما يتعلق بالإيمان والإسلام – المكتبة الشاملة