Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Recently converted to Islam, separated from my Christian husband for 5 years.

wedding rings divorce

Good day everyone,

I recently converted to Islam, and my problem is whether my marriage to my Christian husband is still valid. We filed for a legal separation in 2008. I am from the Philippines, and for a marriage to be considered null and void is only through annulment. He already has a girlfriend and they are living together. Please advise me what to do. I read a few posts here saying that my marriage to him is considered void since I am already a Muslim. What if I decided to marry a Muslim brother? Will I be committing a crime in the eyes of Allah? Please enlighten me. Thank you.

-jameela812


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7 Responses »

  1. Assalamu'alaikum sister Jameela,

    When a woman accepts Islam, her husband from her non-Muslim life has 3 months to consider if he wishes to accept Islam. If he does, then he remains her husband. Otherwise, the marriage is annulled. So, if three months have passed since your conversion to Islam, your marriage is annulled and you can consider marriage with a Muslim man. This would be correct as per the Sharee'ah, in sha Allah.

    May Allah accept your Islam for His Sake and Grant you a place with Him in Jannah. Aameen.

    Abu Abdul Bari
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  2. If you were married and the marriage was registered with the government/courts of your country, you would still need to gain a civil divorce via the courts to be considered "divorced" in legal terms. That way you wont encounter any legal issues if you decide to remarry. A legal separation is not a divorce in most countries.

    • My husband has converted to Islam and he said that our marriage automatic null according to the syariah law. Should proceed with the marriage annulment or i have to wait for certain period then i proceed with the proces?

      • Your husband is wrong. A Muslim man can remain married to a Christian woman (presumably you are Christian?). So your marriage is not annulled in any way.

        Wael
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

        • Thanks so much for your answer.. yes i am a Christian. me and my husband was register in May 2014. And then after 2 month he decided to null our marriage as he have found someone new. In Sept 2014, he informed me that he has converted into muslim, and he said by Syariah law, he is single now. And he ask me to proceed with the marriage annulment by my self.

  3. Assalaamualaikam sister,

    Islamically, as has been said by my fellow editor above, if your husband does not accept Islam within the waiting period (3 months), then your marriage is annulled and you are free to marry a Muslim man, with whom you can share your life and faith, inshaAllah. If your husband were to accept Islam, then you would remain married, but if you later required the marriage to be ended this could be done Islamically.

    With regards legal divorce in the Philippines, my main advice would be to speak with a lawyer experienced in such matters. I may be wrong, but I think that there is provision for divorce for Muslim citizens of the Philippines under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (Presidential Decree 1083, I think...) - inshaAllah an experienced lawyer should be able to help clarify this.

    Midnightmoon
    IslamicAnswers.com editor

  4. if your conversion and marriage to islam I country in other are not registered on your government /court of your country. what will be the status. is muslim or married?

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