Muslim Women Cannot Marry Themselves

Estimated reading: 4 minutes 296 views

The Muslim woman is considered oppressed since she must have her fathers permission to get married.

1 – Islamic law requires the permission of a woman’s father for her marriage to be valid.

Prophet Muhammad (r) was reported to have said,

“The marriage of any woman who marries herself without her guardian¶s consent is invalid.”

2 – From a Western perspective in which teenagers are required to leave home and fend for themselves, it would seem unthinkable that the father’s permission would be needed for marriage.

3 – The Muslim woman lives a sheltered life. She is not used to dealing with men outside her blood relatives whom she cannot marry (mahaarim). The father will be more capable of judging the young man objectively. The young woman could easily be fooled or sweet-talked as she tends to be more emotional in her judgement. 4. If the guardian refuses proposals for illegitimate reasons like the persons tribe, race,color, status, the young lady has the right to seek redress from the court. If he judge concludes that the father is wrongfully preventing his daughter from marriage, he may take the guardianship from the father and act as the girls guardian.

Double Standard In Marriage

Muslim males are allowed to marry non-Muslim females but Muslim females are only allowed to marry Muslim males. This is often cited as discrimination and one of the symbols of oppression of Muslim females.

1 – Muslim males are not allowed to marry any non-Muslim female. Only Christians and Jews (People of the Book) and not any other religion.

This is due to the fact that the scriptures held sacred by Christians and Jews do contain large portions of revelation even though the texts have been distorted and changed. Consequently, in honor of the revelation still remaining in these texts, permission was granted to marry their women. However, the condition of chastity is added to the permission mentioned in the Qur’aan.

Consequently, only a woman who is either a virgin, divorcee or widow can be married. This means that the common practice of Muslims from the East coming to Europe and America and finding blue eyed blondes in discos for wives is quite illegitimate. Finding chaste females in the West is more difficult than finding the proverbial “needle in the haystack.” By mid teens, virginity is looked at as a fault rather than a virtue.

2 – The reason for allowing men and not women is in order to protect the woman’s religion.

If a Muslim man requested his Christian wife not to bring alcohol or pork in his house and that she not wear mini-skirts or kiss his friends, she could comply without affecting her religious teachings. However, If a Christian husband requested his Muslim wife to purchase alcohol and serve him pork, to wear mini-skirts and kiss his friends since it is his custom to kiss the wives of his friends. It is natural for a wife to try to please her husband. In the case of the Muslim wife, that could lead to the destruction of her faith.

3 – Marriage to non-Muslims is discouraged in situations where Muslims are weak or in the minority in order to safeguard the religion of the children.

If a Muslim man marries a non-Muslim woman in the West and their marriage ends in divorce, or the man dies, the courts will award custody of the children to the wife who will likely raise them as non-Muslims. However, if they were married in a Muslim country, the Sharee’ah would not give the children to a non-Muslim mother. They would instead be given to either the husband or his relatives in order to insure they receive a Muslim upbringing.

Muslim Women Cannot Marry Themselves

Double Standard In Marriage

Muslim Women Cannot Marry Themselves

CONTENTS