Marrying a Bahai woman?
The famous Bahai Lotus Temple in Delhi, India. Can Muslims marry Bahais?
Question:
Assalamu Allikum, I have a question regarding a Muslim man marrying a Bahai woman. She and the Bahai religion believe in ALLAH as the only GOD. They do believe in (and respect) Islam, Christianity and Judism as Holy religions and that the Quran is a holy book.
Is it allowed to marry her?
Jazakum Allah Khairan.
- Ahmed, USA
Wael's Answer:
Wa alaykum as-salam Ahmed. In fact, it is not allowed for a Muslim to marry a person of the Bahai faith.
The Bahais follow two men, one named Siyyid `AlÃ-Muhammad of Shiraz, who in 1844 he proclaimed himself to be the "Bab" or gate; and one of his followers named Bahá'u'lláh, who in 1863 claimed to be a Messiah and Prophet. The Bahais of today face Bahá'u'lláh's grave in prayer every day as their Qiblah. They have altered some Islamic traditions and discarded others (for example they fast 19 days each year at a time other than Ramadan), but they stick to other principles like no drinking and no sex outside of marriage.
Their religion has many beautiful principles, such as unity of God, elimination of prejudice, and equality of men and women. However, you can't get around the fact that it's a religion based on false prophethood and the alteration of Islamic worship.
I respect the Bahais as moral people, and I am opposed to the persecution of Bahais by some Muslim nations. However, it's not allowed for us to marry them.
I would encourage the woman to convert to Islam. Not only would she then be halal for you, but she would be coming from a faith which is marginalized to one which is universal and global; from a faith which follows a false prophet to one which follows the Seal of Prophethood, Muhammad (pbuh).
And Allah knows best.
If any readers have some additional advice for this questioner, I invite you to post your comments below.
(O Allah), Guide us to the straight path; The path of those whom you have favored; Not those with whom you are angry; Nor those who go astray.
Best regards,
- Wael Abdelgawad, Editor
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Wa alaykum as-salam Ahmed. In fact, it is not allowed for a Muslim to marry a person of the Bahai faith.
The Bahais follow two men, one named Siyyid `AlÃ-Muhammad of Shiraz, who in 1844 he proclaimed himself to be the "Bab" or gate; and one of his followers named Bahá'u'lláh, who in 1863 claimed to be a Messiah and Prophet. The Bahais of today face Bahá'u'lláh's grave in prayer every day as their Qiblah. They have altered some Islamic traditions and discarded others (for example they fast 19 days each year at a time other than Ramadan), but they stick to other principles like no drinking and no sex outside of marriage.
Their religion has many beautiful principles, such as unity of God, elimination of prejudice, and equality of men and women. However, you can't get around the fact that it's a religion based on false prophethood and the alteration of Islamic worship.
I respect the Bahais as moral people, and I am opposed to the persecution of Bahais by some Muslim nations. However, it's not allowed for us to marry them.
I would encourage the woman to convert to Islam. Not only would she then be halal for you, but she would be coming from a faith which is marginalized to one which is universal and global; from a faith which follows a false prophet to one which follows the Seal of Prophethood, Muhammad (pbuh).
Assalamu Allikum Brother Wael,
I want to start by thanking you for your very kind and great effort. Your advise is deeply appreciated.
However, I reviewed the Quaran and the only clearly mentioned restriction is towards the disbelievers, i.e. not to marry from people who don't believe in the one and only mighty Allah. This does not apply to Bahai's who believe in Allah as the only God and in Islam and in Prophet Mohammed (SAAWS). I agree they don't belong to Islam but I am not sure they can be classified as desbelievers. Hence, they don't necessarily fall under the Quranic restriction. There is an agreement about the kids being raised as muslims in islamic school.
I would really appreciate your advise.
Jazakum Allah Khairan.
Ahmed
Ahmed, thanks for your kind words. However, the Quranic guidelines are clear. A Muslim man is allowed to marry a Muslim woman, or one of the People of the Book, which according to the Quran are the followers of the Christian and Jewish religions. The People of the Book are considered to be followers of the true Prophets Musa and Isa (Moses and Jesus) peace be upon them, even if their religions have been corrupted over time. The Bahais, however, follow a false prophet, so their situation cannot be compared to the People of the Book. The Bahais also believe that the Bab was divine; they believe in books after the Quran which they consider to be superior to the Quran; and they deny the Day of Judgment and the Hereafter.
I want to be clear because there is a lot of discrimination against Bahais in the Muslim world. I am opposed to any kind of persecution or political discrimination against Bahai people. I believe strongly in human rights, including the rights of religious minorities. They should be allowed to worship freely; they should be allowed equal employment, housing, political access, etc.
However, when it comes to marriage, they are clearly NOT Muslims or believers in Islam, and the Muslim scholars are agreed that marriage to them is not allowed.
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, September 2009:
"Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, President of the World Federation of Muslim Scholars, issued a formal legal opinion (fatwa) that it is illegal for a Muslim man to marry a Baha'i woman. He requested all those who marry abroad to provide written documents as proof of marriage to a Christian or Jewish [Kitabi] woman because some women do not follow any religion at all despite the fact that their official religion is Christianity, for example. He assured that the Baha'i religion is not recognized in the Qur'an."
IslamOnline.net fatwa session, 12-1-2004:
http://www.islamonline.net/livefatwa/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=EZZo28
"The Baha'is are not considered to be under the category of "Muslims", and they even declare themselves to be followers of another religion. Therefore, it is not allowed to get married to a Baha'i woman or man or to share inheritance with them. The reason is that the founder of the Baha'i faith, Bahullah, considers himself to be a Prophet, and the book he wrote was considered by him as a divinely revealed one."
alsalam alaikom, i just wanted to add something to the question was asked before, muslim man cant marry a bahai woman even if she's not practicing the baha'i faith and just be because of family issues ?? i mean yeah she is bahai but "by name" and she's not really following that path, still he can not marry her and try to pass islam to her later if he thinks he could??
w jazakom alah khair
IB
Asalaamualaikum Ibrahim,
A Muslim man can only marry a woman who is already Muslim, Jewish or Christian.
Many atheists and agnostics and people of other faiths respect Islam, but that does not make marriage with them halaal.
alsalm alikom sister Z, thanks alot for your comment, i think to try with her first if it'll work inshalah that will be good w alhamdolelah, if not may alah guied us and everybody to the right path , please keep us in ur prayers .
thanks again
jazakom alah khair
Wa/salaams Ibrahim,
I didnt understand what you meant by this: "i think to try with her first if it'll work inshalah that will be good"
Did you mean, try by marrying her as a non-practising Bahai, or try to see if she becomes Muslim first?
salam , no sister Z to try first to see if she become a muslim and then marry , lets say inshalah . i appreciate it , i will try with her if she'll convert alhamdolelah if not , let god lead her to the right path inshalah . pray for us and for he please because she was so close to do that but some family issues and some people were involved . thanks again .
Thats good to hear Ibrahim. Although do seek out the right methods of trying to bring her closer to Islam.
You may easily fall into the trap of becoming close to her yourself if you are the one teaching her, so I would advise you to get her in touch with some trusted Muslim sisters.
Your intention is pure, so set the right foundations, take a step back and leave the rest to Allah.
Baha'is do not believe in Allah purely. Because for them, Bahaullah is also another god. They pray to him instead of to Allah and they prostrate to bahaullah's tomb, which is the worship of man. This is called shirik and bahai's are essentially mushrik. Its very important to establish that.
Bahai women will only give u a headache with their weird outlook of life and one will never have a stable marriage because they dont believe that men are the head of a family, but rather they believe in equality between men and women (not justice, but equality), so women also can be the head of a family and this going to bring about mush disunity in the family of bahais.
Go to http://formerbahai.blogspot.com or just type former bahai in youtube and I've spoken about the shirk of the bahai faith. Tq.
U can delet my comment again and again and again but u can't delet the truth...this is is the problem we deal in today's life that we don't want to hear other views, we just want to impose our views to others!
Nina, I deleted your comment because this website is not a place for debating religion, or for preaching religions other than Islam. You believe that there is a Prophet after the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We Muslims do not. The Quran is very clear: "This day I have completed your religion for you, and perfected my favor on you, and chosen for you Islam as a religion."
There are other websites where you can debate these ideas, or teach the principles of Bahaism. This website is focused on marriage and family advice.
Best Regards,
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Dear brothers and sisters, please take a look at a website which explains the true picture of the Bahai Faith and how they misrepresent Islam. This site is an eye-opener for all Muslims.
Imran, I removed the link from your comment. I recently shut down a few commenters who wanted to post links to some Bahai websites or to preach the principles of the Bahai religion. Since I shut down the pro-Bahai commenters, I am shutting down the anti-Bahai commenters as well.
The question that was asked is whether it's permissible for a Muslim to marry a Bahai. The answer, unanimously among Sunni scholars, is no. Beyond that, this is not a forum for debate about Bahaism. Therefore I am closing this post to further comments.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor