Muslim-Hindu Marriage

Islam has very strict requirements for marriage. The requirements are stricter for a Dharmic (Sikh, Buddhist, Jain or Hindu) rather than for a Christian or Jew (People of Book; Abrahamics). A Muslim may expect an intended Hindu spouse to: 1) convert to Islam by taking Shahadah oaths before marriage (Nikaah), 2) Hindu be given a Muslim name, 3) expect the children to have Arabic names only, 4) children have Sunat (religious circumcision) and raised in the Islamic faith only, 5) will not allow idol, like Lord Ganesh murti, displayed in your living room, 6) in some cases expect that there be no Hindu marriage ceremony, 7) Hindu don’t wear a Bindi but rather put on a veil and 8) the Dharmic groom has Sunat (circumcision) before the Nikaah. Read Sharmila Tagore‘s story.

You will hear some of these expectations just before the wedding and most after the marriage. After years of being in a romantic relationship, reluctantly accepting the religious conversion (Shahadah) may be the only way of averting a marital grid-lock. If you have any personal experience, share them here. If you wish to read some real life experiences, check quotations on the bottom of this page.

Marriages with non-Muslims

A Muslim boy can NOT marry a Hindu girl. Islam allows a Muslim male to marry a lady, either Christian or Jew (she should not be polytheist). However, a Muslim lady cannot marry to a non-Muslim, including one belonging to the “People of Book.” If some Muslim sister has indulged in this, she should approach the husband and try her best that he also converts to Islam. Meanwhile she will not act as his wife and stay divorced. In case he doesn’t embrace Islam, divorce is inevitable. Read About Islam; Loving a Muslim. Also read at the bottom of this page for actual life experiences by youths.

Islamic perspectives on interfaith marriages: A law review

Shahadah is an irreversible conversion to Islam: Muslim Caliphates invited all Muslim civilians to be involved in defending the Islamic state from attack of the non-Muslims. Religious conversion from Islam was therefore conceptualized as a vital criminal violation that might be punishable by death because a former Muslim would endanger the existence of all Muslims by allying with an enemy of Islam.

Nikaah is a marriage contract to obey Allah. Hinduism and Buddhism view marriage as sacramental. The theological discouragement to marry a mushrik (polytheist) is an Islamic strategy to preserve the existence of the marriage institution and allow Muslims to better achieve the aims of their faith.

Interfaith marriage is one amongst the most fundamental sinful actions in Islam after shirk, rebellion against parental authority and killing a person without any legal reason. This interfaith marriage problem may be solved by conversion of the person from other faith to Islam.

Muslim men to marry Ahl al-Kitab (People of Book, like Jews and Christians) is essentially a political Islamization strategy. Theoretically, via the good manners of a Muslim husband, his spouse may be induced to convert to Islam. Forbidding Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men can also be viewed as a political strategy, because if a woman is under the influence of a non-Muslim husband, she may leave Islam for his religion and their children may not be raised as Muslims.

The Quran prohibits appointing a non-Muslim as leader, including as the head of the family. A non-Muslim is not allowed to be appointed as a leader of Muslims, and they must pay jizyah- a personal tax on non-Muslims.

The policy reasons for attacking any group that refused to convert to Islam were to maintain the stability of the Islamic State and also to proclaim the superiority of Islam over other communities. Read details.

Interfaith marriages in Malaysia

Common practices of interfaith marriages of Hindus to others in Malaysia are summarized here. For Hindu and non-Abrahamic couples, love is all that matters. As for Christians, the Christian partner in Malaysia always demands that spouse convert and Hindus who believe that all Gods and religions are the same usually fall prey. But there are some Christians who also follow Hindu way of life. A marriage with Muslim has one strict condition- convert to Islam. Once one converts to Islam, there is no way out even there is an urge to be otherwise. Read more.

Muslim-Hindu/Sikh Dating/Marriage Experiences

Akansha got married in a court but immediately the Muslim family compelled her to quit her job, took away her Facebook privileges, was “unwillingly” convert to Islam, given a new name Nusrat, most documents including passport had name changes, sent to Islamic school, made to wear black gown called abaya and hijab, confined to home, allowed to visit her Hindu parents only twice in 9 months of marriage, and her Hindu identity was erased in all respect.

Nirmla: I can truly say that once the period of “marriage bliss” wore off, life has been sooo difficult…10 fold after the children come, I’ve realized I cannot be a true mother to them. I had to give them Islamic names, go through Islamic traditions at their birth.

Rajanpreet: I am recently going under huge stress.. as I am in love with a muslim guy who is from Kurdistan originally and I am a punjabi sikh girl. We have been in love with each other for nearly ten years now..

Monicapreet: i am a sikh girl and i am divorced from a sikh boy in 2007, i am having two kids which are with there father, the reason of divorce is heavy drunker and having relationship with other womens . Now i am living with my parents and having affair with a muslim boy..

Poonam: m in love with a Muslim boy for 2 years and he loves me very much he is intelligent nd independent in life can support me .. m a brahmin…

Ganisha: my name is Ganisha, i am a sikh girl who is in love with a muslim guy who i have been with for a few years now. He has a tendency to be over protective but i love him. i want to be with him and i can’t imagine myself with anyone else.

R: I’m punjabi, in love with a muslim bora. We have been dating for 3 years now and recently he found out that his mom is looking for girls for him. He asked them if he could marry a hindu . His mom said she’ll disown him if he wanted to. She wasn’t even ready to agree when he said that she’d convert.

Sadaf: i was forcefully married to my husband, I was totally devastated with his constant suspicion on me, not letting me work, no steady income, not even happiness, few months back he married another women, secretly. I thought my parents will handle this butour religious head took decision in his favor. I left him..

Roma Roy: he n his family members loved me very much before getting married, but after marriage it was very different n they have a very harsh n rude nature…i could not live with him, it was impossible..

Shamim: here i m in difficult situation. My boyfriend is a hindu. My parents dont like he talking to me. Actually its high time and they are forcing me to marry a guy in my area, javed. I’m crying day and night. I just want to marry Rahul.

Zoya: i’m a jain-hindu girl in love with a bihri muslim guy.
we love each other and his family is very easy going and broad minded.
his sister has married a hindu too. .. please help me!!!!

Prateek: I am a Hindu and in a relationship with an Islamic girl (it was she who approached me first), we both love each other and can go to any extent to live with each other…

Ashok: I’m in love with a muslim…. she suggested me to follow islam in order to make her parents accept for our marriage.. i’ve said i’ll get converted and be circumcised….

Radha: i am a Brahman girl and i am dating a boy who is muslim shia. i love him a lot and want to spend my whole life with him. but neither my parents nor his parents want us to marry now plz tell me what should i do ?

K: it was her who began bringing up conversion. Me converting (from Hinduism), of course, not her. At first it was easy to laugh it off, but the same question kept coming up over and over again…..YOU’RE the one who’s going to be asked to convert, to sacrifice who you are, to turn your back on your culture and heritage. Not them.

Salman: …She is Sikh and will remain Sikh and I am still Muslim. We are happy and I don’t think someone should say it just to “please” their spouse’s family, because I think your faith is a part of who you are, and even though I am Muslim, whatever you are raised as, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, etc. you should stay within your faith because it is your identity.

Leona: He promised me that when it comes to marriage, I would NEVER need to convert. I could stay in my religion and we could marry under civil law. I made it clear to him that I would NEVER convert to Islam under ANY circumstances. …. ….my boyfriend told me that I would either have to convert or leave him…..

Seema Maheshwari: I am a born Muslim. Our Abrahamic faiths are bent on up-staging each other. I have been told both by a Christian and a Muslim that I will go to hell for not believing in Jesus and marrying a non-Muslim, respectively. These same people forget the all important message of love that was preached by various Prophets. To me only God is infallible, therefore these naysayers are truly ignorant.

Mimmie: I’m in a Christian-Muslim relationship here in the States. I care so much about him. I’m giving it my all to learn about Islam, and try to understand why he feels certain ways about things. ….. My only thing is, right now I have no feeling to convert and he understands and has never asked me of this. I don’t think he ever will, but we will see.

Radica Nagassar: My son had to take shahadah to marry the Imaam’s daughter. I respected my son even more when he said to his father in law to be … I love your daughter and you say I must convert to marry her ..no problem ..but please do not expect me to change….

Dee: I am in a relationship with a Muslim for almost 18 years….recently she has started wearing a vale…. I am sinking and there is no one to pull me out. Every time the word Hindu is mentioned I am called a kafir. Is this what I am at the age of forty? What have I done? I feel worthless…I wish I die..

Madiha: I was born into a very staunch Muslim family in the US. Learning to read the Quran the moment I could read…….When I heard all this I began to hate my father and Islam. I promised to get my (Hindu) mom out of this situation and also never ever end up like her. When I turned 18, along with the help of a lawyer, I managed to get my mom and dad divorced…..I am a practising and loving Hindu now.

Roop: On a Guyanese Hindu women….despite his assurances, the bride was given a Muslim name. Next, the new couple made a honeymoon trip to Paris, France. But immediately thereafter, the groom took her on a direct flight to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for hajj (pilgrimage)! Here, an apparent change of heart took place. All of a sudden, the bride was allowed to do only things Islamic….

Singh: I am a Sikh guy who loves Muslim girl from Pakistan. She says that I most convert to Islam, and then marry her. But she says that I don’t need to be a Muslim after we have got married…So do u have some tips to what I can do?

Amrita: My husband and I are from different religions and we are very happy. I love him a lot and our families support us and we are both learned in our own cultures and traditions. Neither one of us converted into the others faith nor do we fall into the traps of society and what people think.

Watch these videos:

• Interfaith Marriage with Equality
• Hindu-Muslim Marriage video
• Sharia Practices: How it will impact your Hindu-Muslim Marriage video

Read the book for all your questions: Interfaith Marriage: Share and Respect with Equality

Be a friend on Facebook. Return to InterfaithShaadi.org. To share your experience, read.