I am a Muslim man study in the USA. I was not living up to the standards, as a Muslim man should. I was drinking, smoking, meeting girls. I met a girl that I was dating and she learned (the hard way) of my wrong doings. Instead of leaving me, she insisted that I return to the path of Allah, and become a more practicing Muslim. She helped me see where I was lost. She helped me. Instead of making our relationship Haram, we married. My family has been totally against marrying from outside of the preselected family members. They are unaware of my marriage to her. I truly believe she is my soul mate. Is it right for me to divorce her because my family would not accept her because she is an Arab, but not an Arab from my family or country? One more thing she is a Christian.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is permitted to marry a chaste Christian woman.

Allah Says (what means): {(Lawful to you in marriage) are chaste women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians).} [Quran 5: 5]

In the above-stated verse, “chaste women” means modest and virtuous. But it is disliked for a Muslim to marry a Christian or Jewish woman as long as there are free Muslim women.

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah said in his book Al-Fataawa Al-Kubra: “It is disliked to marry free Christian or Jewish women as long as there are free Muslim women. This is the opinion of Qadi Abu Ya'la (a Hanbali scholar) and most scholars.”

Thus, we advise our brother the inquirer to obey his parents and family; i.e., to marry a free Muslim woman so that he might feel safe concerning his children's religion (to be Muslims). However, if this woman embraces Islam, we advise you to keep her as your wife as well as to show great kindness towards your parents so that you can convince them in such a situation, and you are not obliged to obey them to divorce her.

Allah knows best.