Questionable marriage Fatwa No: 90432
- Fatwa Date:31-8-2005
My question is, if a Muslim girl gets married from non-Muslim man after he converted to Islam. But after she got married from him he never prays or fast in Ramadhaan, and if anyone else asks him about his religion he will say that he is Christian. He still drinks and eats pork. But if his wife asked him about his religion he will say that he believed in Muhammad and the messengers. They have been married for 5 years and they have a boy, in our Islam view does her marriage is right? or it is prohibited? Can she stay with him? Or she has to divorce him?
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
Saying that you married a man after he embraced Islam is evidence that the marriage contract is valid and that this man was a Muslim. The fact that he abandoned the prayer and fasting, and consumes what Allaah has forbidden is a great major sin. However, according to the majority of scholars, he is not a non-Muslim and the marriage contract is not invalidated. Yet, the great disaster is that he is saying that he is 'a Christian', so the ruling is that he apostated from Islam because of this statement according to some scholars among whom is Al-Buhooti as he said in Kashshaaf Al-Qinaa': 'If he utters a statement that takes him out of the fold of Islam, for instance if he says: "I am a Jew, a Christian, a Magi" or "I am free from Islam, or the Quran or having nothing to do with the Prophet " or says "I worship the Cross and the like", like worshipping other than Allaah, [according to what the scholars stated in the chapter of faith], then he is a non-Muslim.' [End of quote].
Whoever apostates from Islam, he does not become a Muslim again until he repents and utters the two testimonies of faith. It is not sufficient for him to say when he is asked that 'he believes in Muhammad and other Messengers."
Therefore, you should separate from him [and you should not allow him to have sexual intercourse with you] as long as he does not repent and embrace Islam before the expiry of the waiting period.
Allaah Knows best.