What should parents do if their daughter eloped and married a Christian man? Can they kill her, disown her, or what?

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.

The Muslim woman should not marry a non-Muslim be he a Christian or others. There is no disagreement among the past and contemporary scholars on this issue. Allah Says (what means):

• {And do not marry polytheistic men [to your women] until they believe.} [Quran 2:221]

• {…they are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them…} [Quran 60:10].

• {…And never will Allah grant to the disbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers.} [Quran 4:141]

The guardian of this lady should prevent her from marrying this Christian even if he has to detain her and prevent her from going out. If he is unable to do that like when she is in a place that is inaccessible for him, he should try to use all means to admonish her and discourage her from carrying out this heinous act. He should tell her that this is a clear fornication. If she regards this as lawful, she is then an apostate. May Allah protect us. As for killing her, this is not allowed, because, if she does not regard her act as lawful, she is still a Muslim. But if she believes that marrying a non-Muslim man is not unlawful, the legal punishment should not be carried out on her except after she has been made to understand that and asked to repent.

Even yet, the only person that can order the punishment to be carried out is the ruler and no one else. As regards disowning her, if what is meant by that is to remove her from one's lineage, that is impossible and unlawful in Islam. But if what is meant by that is to disinherit her, her parents cannot do that if she does not regard her act as lawful. Even if her father writes a will that she should not be given any part of his estate, his will should not be implemented. But if she believes that her act is lawful, she is then an apostate and should, therefore, not inherit anything from her parents. Besides, seizing or confiscating her money is unlawful if she is regarded as a Muslim. The above is the answer to what we understood from the question about disowning. However, if the questioner has other meanings in his mind, he should please let us know them, so that we can provide an appropriate answer to them.

For more benefit that the marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim man is null and void, please refer to Fataawa: 262615, 81220, 362398, and 393682.

Allah knows best.