Can a Muslim Man Marry with a Sikh?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: In the Qur’an 60:10 God said one can marry “believers” and did not specify a religion of the women in question, but the only requirement is that they are “believers”. Now, as a Sikh woman, if I comply with this verse in the Quran, is it permissible for me to marry a Muslim man without converting to Islam?

Answer: assalamu `alaykum

I do not know of any opinion within the Islamic tradition that would allow the marriage of a Muslim man with a Sikh.

The Qur’anic verse that you refer to is in reference to Muslim women. It is not permitted for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man i.e. a non-believer, even if he is Christian or Jewish. In the final part of the verse, God instructs Muslim men not to “hold marriage bonds with disbelieving women.” In the language of the Qur’an, a believer is an exclusive reference to a Muslim.

The only exception to the above are men marrying Jews and Christians. This is explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an 5:5 where it states that a Muslim man may marry “women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the scripture before you.” Clearly, the word “believers” here does not refer to anyone who believes in a religion for there would be little use in mentioning straight afterwards the permissibility of marrying those who were given the scripture before Muslims. Rather, the term believers here refers to a specific group of people, namely those who have accepted Islam.

Salman

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani