Scriptures and Interfaith Marriages
Religions and scriptures have been guiding principles of life for many. Most of the times, scriptures teach us to live with peace and harmony with others. There are many pluralistic themes in different scriptures like Lord Jesus (Matthew 22:39) guiding us to “Love thy neighbors,” Allah (Koran 5:48) stating, “To you We have given the scriptures, just as We have given the scriptures to people before you (Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. )” and Lord Krishna’s message (Geeta 11:55), “Who is friendly to every living being–he certainly comes to Me.” In spite of God’s many inclusivist and loving messages, millions have been killed in His/Her name. Is this due to conflicting messages given by God or is it human’s inability to comprehend God’s true message? Assuming the latter, we recommend all interfaith couples not to get stuck on scriptures and instead learn to enjoy Interfaith Marriage with Equality.
Considering many unifying themes in different scriptures will not hurt to interfaith dating couples if they were not aware of them, we have focused on quotes which may be potentially interpreted as objectionable from an inclusivist viewpoint. Select verses/ayat from different scriptures are listed that the interfaith dating couples should know.
• The Geeta on Abrahamics? (below)
• The Torah on Hindus?
• Bat Mitzvah on Hindus?
• The Bible on Hindus?
• The Koran on Hindus?
• The Koran on Christians and Jews?
It is possible that some Hindus as well as Abrahamics may find that listing these verses without detailed explanations for each in this book is not appropriate. We recommend an interfaith dating couple to read respective scriptures for full context and discuss together how these select verses may impact their planned married life.
While consulting with more than 900 interfaith dating youths over past 8 years, we have learned that–initially majority of interfaith dating youths don’t have interest in religious scriptures but that changes later when the relationship gets serious. Sometimes, increased interest in one’s religion/scripture by the intended spouse could be a warning sign of trouble on the way; for example, the reason for initiating discussion on “Who is God?” and comparison of two scriptures may be to ultimately prove superiority of one’s faith over the other. The proposition to agree on “We will not idol-worship” is to convince the other that “Your idols are idols, while my idols are Godly.” The talk of “Children may get confused in two religions” means to say, “Children should follow my faith and not yours.” The objective of “ONE God” talk could be to express religious exclusivity that “There is ONE God and that is MINE!” Love proselytism precedes discloser of the need of religious conversion for marriage. It is hoped that above listed scriptures will help dating people to be better prepared against a potential religious fanatic.
We believe happy and successful interfaith marriage is possible provided the couple has true respect for each other’s beliefs and has learned to interpret scriptures in their historical context.
The Geeta on Abrahamic?
In general Hindus are pluralists (Isvar Allah tero nam; meaning one God different names). The author has not found many verses in the Holy Geeta that portrayed Hinduism as an exclusivist and supremacist religion. Further, there is no mention of interfaith marriages and no criticism of other religions, probably because most other religions came into existence after the Hindu Scriptures were written. In spite of all these, we found few verses that could be objectionable to an Abrahamic dating person. The Hindu-Abrahamic couple should read these together and decide what it means to their planned married life.
Below are messages given by God (Lord Krishna) to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. Reflections on potentially how to interpret these scriptures are also provided.
• 3:32 But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not follow them regularly are to be considered deprived of all knowledge, befooled, and ruined in their endeavors for perfection. [Can one achieve perfection by following the Holy Bible, Torah or Koran?]
• 4:11 As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā. [Does “Everyone” include Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists?]
• 6:14 One should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.
• 6:47 And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me–he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.
• 7:7 O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on the thread. [In seemingly contrast to Krishna’s message, Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father (God) except through Me” (John 14:6) and Allah said, “Those that embrace Islam pursue the right path.” (Koran 3:19 and 72:13) Interfaith couple needs to discuss–are all messengers telling us the same thing or are these different messages?]
• 7:15 Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.
• 7:23 Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.
• 9:11 Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be. [An Abrahamic may have problem accepting the concept of God in a human form.]
• 9:23 Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way. [As discussed for the Torah, Bible and Koran, similar verses raise questions for who is “God” and who are “other gods.” It may confuse interfaith couples for which one of these scriptures to follow or which one of these Gods to believe in. It should be noted that Lord Krishna does not instruct devotees to conduct violence against those who do not believe in Him, believe in other gods or are atheist.]
• 10:20 I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.
• 11:55 My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being–he certainly comes to Me. [Two people may interpret a single verse/ayat different ways. For example, here “friendly to every living being” is certainly a pluralistic inclusivist message, but someone else may find Lord Krishna’s message “makes Me the supreme goal” as an exclusivist message. Likewise, Lord Jesus also gave seemingly conflicting messages in the Bible. Jesus said, “Love thy neighbors” (Matthew 22:39), “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matthews 12:30) and “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34; also Luke 12:51). Further, if one interprets “Me” in these scriptures as the Supreme Being (The Creator, LORD God, Allah or Father the God) then there would be not a conflict in interpreting]
• 12:6-7 But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O so of Partha–for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. [An Abrahamic may not believe in reincarnation.]
• 12:8 Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.
• 18:65 Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promose you this because you are very dear friend.
• 18:66 Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. [Is Lord Krishna asking abandoning Abrahamic faiths?]
Also read if in relations with a Christian: Hindu-Christian Marriage, Will Gandhi go to Hell since he was not Baptized?, Bible on Hindus?, Idol-Worshippers, I am a Christian mother, I converted without knowledge of my family, I am Christian getting married to a Hindu, Do all Christians go to Heaven?, Ignorent Molly trying to convert a Krishna believer to Christianity ..a video, Namastey London movie…intolerant Christians ..a video, All religions are not same, A Hindu America?, Why I am a Hindu?, A fundamentalist Christian, Why I came back to Hinduism?, Dharma is not the same as religion, Text book on How to convert Hindu Students to Christianity,
Also read if in relationship with a Muslim: Islamic Women Today, Muta, HRS, wife-beating, Muhammad, Hadith, Koran, Inter-race marriages, Hindu-Muslim marriages, Hindu girl/boy, Muslim girl/boy, Christian-Muslim marriages,
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To admin
Dear admin, m done with my engineering. It got over 10 days back. Now v both are living together in Bangalore. Our parents don’t have clue about it.
Dear Kumar-S,
Congratulations for completing your education. Best wishes for a great job.
When are you going to get married to the Muslim girl?
Remind our readers which Kumar you are, because we have many Kumar (and Akash) to get confused.
Are you this? https://www.interfaithshaadi.org/?p=9928 (every week put this in as your signature below or enter this as your URL, like we did it above. Thanks)
yes admin its the same.
Once we strt working we’ll decide abt marriage.
We are not financially strong, we need to stand on our own feet. Once me and saba are financially strong we’ll discuss abt the marriage. Right now v are living together.
So you are living with each other like husband and wife but without marriage? … and in India?
yes admin v r living together like husband and wife from past 11 days.
Who is supporting you financially? Find a job, both of you, and that will give you strength to do in life to do that you think is right. Best wishes.
Dear admin
Saba is already placed at TCS, but yet to receive offer letter. By the end of this Month she wud be receiving.
I already got placed in a construction company as a civil engineer. My reporting date is 25th (Saturday) of this month.
Regarding financial support, ohh yeah, my friends are doing it. Even my Muslim friends are very support to me.
Congratulations for finding jobs, this is great. It is amazing that even your Muslim friends are supporting you living with a Muslim girl. However, you know it very well that as soon as two parents and two communities will get involved about your relationship, the hell will break loose. We do not have to tell you what to do or not, because you have already have learned experiences of others on this web site. Keep us posted for how you manage and handle it. Best wishes.
Also admin i want to ask you one more thing. Will you support the idea of me marrying a hindu girl?
Yes, we will support you 100% for “Will you support the idea of me marrying a hindu girl?” Go for it. We loved your new thinking, that is the way it should be. Bravo!!
I mean where we will do only nikah.
Go for it! Just find a right imam to marry to a Hindu, we believe that is your objective. Best wishes.
Thank you admin.
But the main question is can it counter the loss caused by thousands of muslim girls who married outside?
mac, we thought you had a personal question if you can marry a Hindu. Are you talking about how can you take revenge for someone else’s actions? Sorry, we cannot help you if you have some hidden agenda for the reason of marrying someone. Best wishes.
Just asking admin coz someone has to repair the damage.
it is better to believe Krishna rather than following a womanizer.
Who is womanizer mr kumar?
Admin, i am muslim, i don’t believe in cow,river ganga,etc. I don’t believe krishna to be god. So now what does Gita has to say about me?
Also i don’t believe in varna system, i don’t believe someone to be brahmin and someother to be sudra.
This is a good point. We wrote this article for interfaith couples. When it comes to interfaith marriage, it does not matter to Abrahamic if the Hindu is Brahmin or Sudra. Thus the caste discussion is an internal matter of Hindus. Likewise, we have not covered Sunni, Shia, Ahmadis, Catholics, Mormons, Methodist, etc. For these reasons, discussion of varna is out of scope of this article.
No admin, actually this is not what i meant. Krishna advocates caste system while jesus and muhammad didn’t. So since i reject caste system hence i reject teaching or dharma of krishna, and what does gita says who are adharmic?
We found a big difference between Jesus and Muhammad. Jesus teachings were progressive (not Muhammad’s) and we loved it. We also don’t have problem people believing Jesus as a “Son” of Allah. People should have liberty of praying to God the way one desires, not dictated by Sunnis. What Sunnis are doing is a big class system, there is only one God and that is Sunnis’.
Again admin you diverted the topic, and your above comment reflects your hate towards muhammad , the last prophet of islam. There may be some trivial differences between muhammad’s teaching and jesus’s teaching as both lived in different era at different place, but that difference doesn’t mean jesus msg was progressive and muhammad’s was something else. You can’t even show me 3 differences between jesus and muhammad’s teaching but talking abt how different muhammad and jesus were. Fact is both jesus and muhammad teachings were same, came from same god for same purpose.
i neither believe allah nor Mohammed.
Hi mac,
First of all, we value your immense contributions to this web site. With ALL writers’s contributions, interfaith couples will be able to make better decision for their own life.
As you know, we are working on our book on interfaith marriages. It is important to cover all angels for couple in interfaith love to help make them fully informed decision. There is no sense on giving only one-sided opinion even we may think we are providing balanced views. To be fair to all, we are also going to include your Islamic perspectives article in our book and we thank you for it.
You and Muhammed made comments to us why only Bible, Torah and Koran are covered and not Geeta? For this reason, we read Geeta again and wrote this article for the book. We covered all points in Geeta that we thought potentially objectionable to Abrahamics.
Now lets come to your specific question. You can believe in what ever you wish to; you are a free man. Likewise, 75% of people on this earth don’t believe in Muhammad and Kaaba and are living not any less happy than Muslims. We believe Geeta does not mention about cow or river Ganga, please point out which verse you are talking about. If you don’t believe in Krishna, then Geeta says you will not benefit from His teachings (Geeta 3:32). However, unlike Koran, Geeta does not sanction killing unbelievers. So, in this respect, you are safe (as far Geeta’s teachings).
What else?
mac, what else we should cover in this article? Get back to us.
just send me the link of the post where ppl are posting comments.
admin
y is this site dead ?
nobody s txtng here.
There are some 1200 posts here and every one has interest in different topics. This topic is of academic interest and not every one has interest in it, that is okay with us.