What are the conditions that must be met for a woman from the People of the Book so that it is permissible for a Muslim to marry her?
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The student: Our Shaykh, you once mentioned the three characteristics that allow a woman from the People of the Book to be married by a Muslim.
The Shaykh : How?
The student: Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, described the woman from the People of the Book with three characteristics, which are very rare to find in a woman from the People of the Book today.
The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah.
The student:[An-Nisa 4:25] And most of the brothers who have married women from the People of the Book are distressed that they did not find them to be virgins.
The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest!
The student: And this is something agreed upon among them, as I mentioned, I recall saying: the one who performs the delivery performs this act from the beginning of the birth until she has freedom from childhood.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar.
The student: Yes, so the existing conditions, they say, are not currently available.
The Shaykh : Correct, may Allah reward you, this is good, meaning:[Al-Ma'idah 5:5], the chaste women, it is known what they are.
The student: I mean, the Shaykh said a fundamental word: the Muslim woman today is barely safe from her evil, so how about the disbeliever?
The Shaykh : I recall in Damascus, a Turkish officer used to frequent my place, my shop. He had witnessed the last battles between the Turks and the Bulgarians, and that they were able in some of the campaigns to take possession of Bulgaria. He said: When we stayed there and learned something of their customs and traditions, among them—the wretched, the wicked—so that the girl would not be known to be one who has had multiple partners, from the day the baby falls from the pregnant woman’s womb, if it is a girl, immediately the midwife, the birth attendant, twists her with a twist, breaks her virginity, and she lives in a state of broken virginity. So when it is said so-and-so married so-and-so, and it turns out, the answer is known in advance, whereas she is acted upon like animals, meaning without any restriction, and I seek refuge in Allah.
So such women today, it is not permissible to marry them.
The student: Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : How?
The student: Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, described the woman from the People of the Book with three characteristics, which are very rare to find in a woman from the People of the Book today.
The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah.
The student:
[They should be] chaste, neither [of] those who commit unlawful intercourse randomly nor those who take [secret] lovers
محصنات غير مسافحات ولا متخذات أخدانThe Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest!
The student: And this is something agreed upon among them, as I mentioned, I recall saying: the one who performs the delivery performs this act from the beginning of the birth until she has freedom from childhood.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar.
The student: Yes, so the existing conditions, they say, are not currently available.
The Shaykh : Correct, may Allah reward you, this is good, meaning:
chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you
والمحصنات من الذين أوتوا الكتاب من قبلكمThe student: I mean, the Shaykh said a fundamental word: the Muslim woman today is barely safe from her evil, so how about the disbeliever?
The Shaykh : I recall in Damascus, a Turkish officer used to frequent my place, my shop. He had witnessed the last battles between the Turks and the Bulgarians, and that they were able in some of the campaigns to take possession of Bulgaria. He said: When we stayed there and learned something of their customs and traditions, among them—the wretched, the wicked—so that the girl would not be known to be one who has had multiple partners, from the day the baby falls from the pregnant woman’s womb, if it is a girl, immediately the midwife, the birth attendant, twists her with a twist, breaks her virginity, and she lives in a state of broken virginity. So when it is said so-and-so married so-and-so, and it turns out, the answer is known in advance, whereas she is acted upon like animals, meaning without any restriction, and I seek refuge in Allah.
So such women today, it is not permissible to marry them.
The student: Praise be to Allah.