On August 4, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has issued a statement against inter-faith marriage and appealed to the Muslim youth to marry within the Muslim community. The board stated in the statement that marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is religiously wrong, and according to Sharia Law, it is not permissible in Islam. Notably, the press note talked more about Muslim girls marrying outside faith compared to the boys.
दूसरे मजहब में शादी के खिलाफ उतरा ऑल इंडिया मुस्लिम पर्सनल लॉ बोर्ड। बोर्ड के एक्टिंग जनरल सेक्रेटरी मौलाना खालिद सैफुल्लाह रहमानी ने आज जारी किया प्रेस नोट। कहा गैर मुस्लिम से शादी करना शरीयत के मुताबिक गलत। #AIMPLB #lovejihaad
— News18 Uttar Pradesh (@News18UP) August 4, 2021
Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, acting General Secretary of AIMPLB, issued a press note in which he appealed the same to Muslim youth, Alims and the parents of Muslim children. The board said in the press note that if a Muslim marries a non-Muslim, he will continue to do wrong throughout his life. They called the marriage of both Muslim boys and girls outside religion a wrong trend.
Improper education is stated as the reason
According to the board, the main reason for Muslim youth marrying outside of religion is that the parents are not giving them ‘proper education’ of Islam. The board, thus, appealed to the religious leaders, i.e. Alims and the parents of the Muslim children, to convince their children to marry in their own community.
The board, in the statement, said that there had been several incidents where Muslim girls married non-Muslims and suffered afterwards. They urged the religious leaders to raise the topic regularly during public gatherings and tell people about the worldly losses of marrying outside religion.
‘Keep an eye on the mobile phones’
The board urged the parents to keep an eye on the mobile phones of both boys and girls. They also urged the parents to teach the girls in girls schools instead of co-ed schools. “The parents should discourage girls from spending time outside the house except for school. They should be told that only a Muslim can be their life partner,” the board said.
The board added that when Muslim boys or girls marry in a registry office, their names are released on a list before the marriage. The religious organizations, concerned parties, teachers of madarsas and important personalities in the Muslim community should reach out to them and tell them that such form of so-called marriage would lead to a life in Haram.
‘Muslim children should be married off early’: AIMPLB
The board urged the parents to marry off their children at a young age and not to delay the marriage, especially in the case of girls. The board said, “delay in marriage is also a major cause of such inter-faith marriages.”
The increasing cases of Love Jihad
Interestingly, such a statement by the board came out when laws against Grooming Jihad are being materialized in several states across the country. States like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have already passed rules against forced conversions, especially after marriage. Also, as per the Sharia law, if a non-Muslim wants to marry a Muslim, he or she has to convert to Islam first. Otherwise, such marriage would be considered as Fasid or irregular marriage. In such cases, the spouse of other religions would not be entitled to several rights as per Sharia.
Though the press note stated that if Muslim girls marry outside the faith, they suffer a lot, in reality, the cases of Love Jihad or Grooming Jihad are more deadly for the Hindu women who marry Muslim men.
Recently, Allahabad High Court had stated that religious conversions for the sake of marriage are unconstitutional. Similar observations were made by the court in October 2020 as well.
