Chapter: The Marriages of Non-Muslims

By “non-Muslims” we mean the People of the Book and others as well, such as the Magians and idol-worshippers.

Our concern here is what we would recognize of their marital unions were they to embrace Islam, or if, while still in a state of disbelief, they brought their case before a Muslim judge.

With respect to validity, the occurrence of divorce, ẓihār, īlāʾ, and the obligations of maintenance and equal division of nights, the marriages of non-Muslims are governed by the same legal rulings as the marriages of Muslims.

The women forbidden to Muslims are likewise forbidden to them. The Quran attributes a wife to a disbeliever in the verses, “and his wife, the carrier of firewood” and “the wife of Pharaoh,” and such an attribution denotes a sound marital bond.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The correct view is that any marriages they contract that Islam prohibits are, in themselves, absolutely unlawful. If they die upon disbelief they will be punished for them, but if they accept Islam they are excused, for they did not believe such marriages to be forbidden. As for validity and invalidity, the sound position is that their marriages are valid from one angle and invalid from another. If by validity one intends permissibility of conjugal relations, that becomes permissible only on condition of their accepting Islam. But if by validity one means that the contract takes legal effect and the rulings of marriage follow from it—such as rendering lawful remarriage after a triple divorce, the occurrence of divorce within it, and the establishment…"