Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Can I marry a follower of the Ismaili sect?

Posted by • September 28, 2009 • Printer-friendly

i want to marry an ismali girl, while i am sunni muslim. is it valid? are ismailis considered to be Muslims ?

- Imran


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45 Responses »

  1. Muhammad Waseem
    October 24, 2012 • 7:29 am

    Salamualaikum,

    I don't know how this post has remained unanswered for 3 years. Anyways, the answer can be found in this post:

    http://www.zawaj.com/askbilqis/risks-of-shia-sunni-marriages/

    And note that Ismaili is a Shia sect.

    Muhammad Waseem
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    Reply
  2. Muhammad kamran khan
    October 24, 2012 • 7:49 am

    yes, you can merry with that girl because ismailies are muslim..!! but they are not branch of sunni they are the bracnch of shia's..!! if any problem then ask from me

    Reply
  3. Wael
    October 24, 2012 • 8:10 am

    I also don't know how the post got missed. Thank you for noticing, Waseem.

    It is unlikely that a Muslim can marry an Ismaili. The Ismailis differ even from mainstream twelver Shi'ah in their beliefs. But the Ismailis have many sects, from the Nizari to the Bohra to the Druze, and they all have different beliefs. So it would depend on the beliefs of the individual in question.

    In general, the majority of Ismailis (the Nizari) follow the Aga Khan. Their title for him is the "Face of God", and they believe him to be divine or semi-divine. They consider him a manifestion of Allah on the earth. This is outside Islam, and it would not be permissible to marry someone who believes this.

    And that's not even counting their 7 pillars of Islam, or their tafsir of the Quran which is based on poems.

    Some of the Ismaili sects like the Druze are way out there, and are not even close to Islam.

    Wael
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    Reply
    • rony
      March 17, 2017 • 7:24 am

      ur statement is baseless. i am an ismaili and i believe what all muslims commonly believe On ALLAH, Prophet SAW, Quran Pak, plus what other muslim sects commonly believe. Aga khan is the 49th hereditary imam, guides us in the light of Quran and sunnah.

      Reply
      • Imran
        May 25, 2018 • 12:10 am

        His statement is not baseless. I was married to Ismaili women and studied very deeply Ismaily faith and even spoke to your scholars on many issues. They are not Muslim they are not even near to Islamic faith.

        Reply
  4. Hussain
    May 29, 2014 • 12:32 pm

    yes no issue you can marry if the girl is interested in you, because there are many examples that sunny boys and girls have married with ismaili boys and girls. but remember one thing dont interfeare in her religious activities

    Reply
  5. Moazam
    October 8, 2014 • 6:20 pm

    Sir although i got my answer cleared frm ur previous post bt even dn i would like more clearifications on dt!
    My question is cn a sunni man marry an Ismaili girl, is it against islam is it unusual nd bring shame to da family fr
    m islam point of view???? Plz do answer it as it is sooo important fr me!!!!
    Regards

    Reply
    • Wael
      October 8, 2014 • 10:12 pm

      It depends on the sect and what they believe. Some Ismaili sect have very deviant beliefs and cannot be considered Muslim.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      Reply
  6. Murad Jamali
    May 10, 2017 • 7:48 am

    When the Holy Prophet(pbuh) first married Hazrat Khadija(pbuh) was she a Muslim? It doesn't matter who you marry as long as you respect their believes and they don't influence upon yours harshly.

    Reply
    • Wael
      May 10, 2017 • 8:02 am

      Murad, your point is invalid. Whatever the Prophet (sws) did before the advent of Prophethood and the revelation of the Quran is not binding, since that occurred before his actions were divinely inspired and guided. Our guidance comes from the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (sws) after his Prophethood commenced.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      Reply
  7. Anum
    May 13, 2017 • 9:33 pm

    I m sunni girl and i want to marry a ismaili boy I love an Ismaili boy. I want to marry him but my parents dont consider him muslim.what should I do?

    Reply
  8. Imran
    May 25, 2018 • 12:01 am

    Donot marry a Ismaili girl. You will regret they are not even near to a Muslim faith. I was married to a Ismaili girl and it was biggest mistake of my life. They do everything opposite to a Muslim faith. They are dumb blind. Nauzbillah they think Quran was a time bound book and whatever their imam says is Quran,they call him walking talking Quran .There’s no concept of Namaz(salat) in their faith. Their imam gave them to read one dua instead of Namaz. They don’t know what is WuDu or gussal They don’t believe on fasting, hajj , zakat instead of zakat they give money to their imam every month. ZINA is very common in their religion they don’t even think it’s bad. This is my personal experience I have been to their jamat khannas so many times with me ex.

    Reply
  9. Faiz Ul Hassan
    June 30, 2018 • 1:51 pm

    It is not permissible for to marry with Ismailis, because the Ismailis are heretics who are beyond the pale of Islam.

    The scholars said concerning their madhhab (school of thought): “It is a way which outwardly is Raafidi but inwardly conceals pure kufr…”

    Ibn al-Jawzi said: “What they say is a denial of the Creator and of Prophethood and of the acts of worship, and denial of the resurrection. But they do not manifest this openly at the beginning. Rather they claim that Allaah is true and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, and that the religion is true. But they say that these concepts have a hidden meaning which differs from the apparent meaning. Iblees has deceived them and has made their way attractive to them.”

    Similar rulings were applied to other groups besides the Ismailis who follow bid’ah and who were deemed to be kaafirs, such as the Nusayris and the Raafidis. So it is not permitted to marry any of them, or for them to marry any of the Muslims.

    It was narrated that Talhah ibn Musarrif (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The women of the Raafidis should not be married, because they are apostates.”

    Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) said in his discussion of the extreme views of the Raafidis and of the Nusayris and Ismailis concerning ‘Ali, that all of these kuffaar are worse kaafirs than the Jews and Christians. If one of them does not make an open display of that, then he is one of the munaafiqeen (hypocrites) who will be in the lowest level of Hell, and those who do make an open display of that are the worst of the kaafirs in kufr. And he said: it is not permitted to marry their women, because they are apostates and are the worst kind of apostates.

    Concerning the Nusayris he said: the scholars are agreed that it is not permitted to intermarry with them, or for a man to marry his female relative to one of them, or to marry one of their women.

    Mutawaatir reports from the righteous salaf indicate that it is forbidden for a Muslim woman from among Ahl al-Sunnah to marry someone from among the followers of bid’ah who has been judged to be a kaafir, and that this type of marriage is null and void.

    See Mawqif Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah min Ahl al-Ahwaa ‘wa’l-Bida’ by Dr. Ibraaheem al-Raheeli, 1/377-380

    And Al-Taqreeb bayna Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Shee’ah, by. Dr. al-Qaffaari, 1/152

    On this basis, it is not permissible for this Muslim woman to marry this man, because he is not a Muslim, even if he claims to be, as was stated above concerning their madhhab. She should not continue thinking of this haraam matter. And Allaah knows best.

    Reply
  10. younes
    May 11, 2020 • 12:37 pm

    hello every one
    please i want to ask you
    i am sunny and i want to marrierd girl is ismali but she doesnt want to wear hijab
    what i should do
    thank you

    Reply
    • Wael
      May 11, 2020 • 5:20 pm

      Younes, if her wearing hijab is important to you, then do not marry her. It seems the two of you may not be compatible. You are looking for someone religious who follows the rules of Islam. She, on the other hand, follows a sect which has completely different rules.

      If you need further advice please register and submit your question as a separate post.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      Reply
      • you
        May 12, 2020 • 2:42 pm

        thank you so much
        also she said may be i will wear the hijab when you marry me also she said our kids
        we can not make them to wear hijab too and they are free to chosse any religion they want .
        so what do you think
        Wael
        thank you

        Reply
        • Anum Khan
          June 2, 2020 • 6:58 pm

          Assalam O Alikum!

          I am sunni Muslim Girl. I want to marry with Ismaili boy. He is doing eabadat, although their ebadat way is different from our Namaz, He is taking Fast (Roza) in ramadan, he is reciting the Quran, He believes in one Allah, He believes in the last Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). Other than these, he follow their Imam, Prince Agha Karim. Now i m deeply fall in love with him. he is nice person, his ikhlaq his countable, he is loving and caring. A girl only need with their partner is love and care with good ikhlaq. My family is against this marriage. My question is, why we make islam so complicated? although we cannot say that Ismailis are not Muslims? if they are not Muslim then why they are not still declared as non muslim? and if they are not declared non muslim then why i can not marry with him? In case i will marry with him so is this marriage called Haram?

          Reply
  11. usman khan
    June 21, 2020 • 11:32 am

    i am a sunni guy, wanting to marry a ismaili girl, the problem is that will my nikkah be jaiz? has state declared them non-muslims?

    will my children if follow both will go to hell?

    i am confused.

    Reply
    • Wael
      June 21, 2020 • 7:43 pm

      As I already said in a previous comment on this post, It is unlikely that a Muslim can marry an Ismaili. The Ismailis differ even from mainstream twelver Shi'ah in their beliefs. But the Ismailis have many sects, from the Nizari to the Bohra to the Druze, and they all have different beliefs. So it would depend on the beliefs of the individual in question.

      In general, the majority of Ismailis (the Nizari) follow the Aga Khan. Their title for him is the "Face of God", and they believe him to be divine or semi-divine. They consider him a manifestion of Allah on the earth. This is outside Islam, and it would NOT be permissible to marry someone who believes this. Such a nikah would be haram and invalid.

      And that's not even counting their 7 pillars of Islam, or their tafsir of the Quran which is based on poems.

      Some of the Ismaili sects like the Druze are way out there, and are not even close to Islam.

      You definitely do NOT want your children to grow up with such deviant practices and beliefs.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      Reply

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