Can I Marry a Muslim Woman If I Say the Shahada Without Full Conviction?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Can I marry a Muslim woman if I take shahada but lack conviction? Would I be wronging or betraying her? Can someone be a Muslim without firm belief?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
For one to be a Muslim, one must agree (logically) to the tenets of faith, such that they believe them to be true. [Ghazali, Qawa‘id al-‘Aqa’id]
Conviction relates to the quality of that belief. It is, therefore, not a requirement to be a Muslim that one has conviction in their belief; only that they believe the tenets to be true. [Ibid.]
Incomplete Faith
If by conviction you mean that you disagree with the tenets of faith of Islam, then your testification to Islam is invalid. In this case, merely feigning embracing Islam to marry a Muslim woman is indeed wronging her and betraying her.
If you do this people outwardly may believe you are married, but in reality you have caused her to commit fornication (i.e., intimacy outside a valid marriage contract).
Advice
I would highly advise putting aside any preconceived notions and biases and objectively studying the tenets of Islam and the rational arguments that underpin them.
A good starting point is the miraculous, inimitable nature of the Holy Quran. If you are convinced that – based on your objective research – the Quran could never have been written by any human, let alone a desert Arab from the 7 century CE, then a fortiori, everything in the Quran is from God and therefore, truth.
If you find within this research that which would validate your faith, then your testification of faith and embracing of Islam will be legitimate and so your future marriage as well.
If, however, this does not suffice, you must candidly admit your disbelief in Islam to this Muslim woman and her family.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.
There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.
Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
