What is the ruling on marrying women from the People of the Book in our present age?

The questioner : Well, Shaykh, regarding the issue of marrying a Christian or a Jewish woman, or a woman from the People of the Book, some have said that it is permissible now. Well, in this age, as you know, if Allah has mercy on a man, he hides the Muslim woman; so what about a disbeliever if he brings her from the land of disbelief? What is the ruling in Islam now on marrying a disbelieving woman from the People of the Book?

The Shaykh : I say: We do not see it, we do not see it permissible for a Muslim to marry a disbeliever, and that is for two reasons. The first reason is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said:
I think it is now Dhuhr, is it not?

The questioner : I mean, approximately.

The Shaykh : I mean, is there a quarter of an hour left?

The questioner : After a quarter of an hour, the time will have entered.

The Shaykh : The point is, for two reasons, I say: The first reason is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him) His saying: . If the Messenger (peace be upon him) commands the Muslim to marry a Muslim woman known for her piety, then he certainly does not encourage the Muslim to marry a disbelieving Jewish or Christian woman. The second reason is that the verse that permitted marriage in His saying (the Exalted): , at that time there was a legitimate da'wah interest in the Muslim marrying a Jewish or Christian woman. Why? Because the Muslim society at that time was not like our Muslim society today. The Muslim society at that time was absorbing other groups and bringing them into the religion of Allah in groups; because Islam was represented in that society among the Muslims. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to this reality concerning his era in the well-known hadith, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .

The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!

The Shaykh : They are the captives, the captives from the people of disbelief and misguidance who are brought to the land of Islam as captives, and they are slaves, dragged into Islam by chains. Of course, who enters Paradise? The believers. So when he said: , it means to adopting Islam, which causes them to enter Paradise. Today, is this dragging that the Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned realized? Unfortunately, no. Today, many disbelievers complain about the conditions of Muslims and their bad treatment, and so on. In that era, the status of the women from the People of the Book who become wives of Muslims, in terms of their entry into Islam, is much better than those to whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) referred in the aforementioned saying: . These women who became wives of Muslims were not dragged by chains, but by consent.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : They consented to marry someone who differed from their religion, and this consent was only out of conviction, even if initial, that the religion of this husband is better than the religion of their fathers, these women. And thus, at that time, the legislative wisdom that the Messenger pointed to in this hadith was very clear. But today, it is the complete opposite. You marry a Muslim girl and barely can you drag her into your Islam and religion; so how can you drag a woman from the People of the Book, whether Jewish or Christian, into Islam? Here it becomes very clear to you when he said: ; so it is not permissible now for a Muslim to marry a Christian on the pretext that Allah permitted this. Yes, our Lord permitted it, and He did not permit anything except for a wisdom that those who know it know it, and those who do not know it do not know it. And we have known it, by the grace of Allah, not by opinion, but by the text from the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): .
Then we find, in terms of reality—and this is another issue—that most foreign and Western wives are a cause of corrupting the offspring and the family; because as long as they have not entered Islam and as long as they have not been raised with Islamic upbringing, they will raise the offspring. And especially since the husbands, the men, do not have knowledge of Islam, enthusiasm for Islam, and piety in Islam to be the shepherds over the upbringing of the offspring; the matter will be most like the complaints today spoken of in some newspapers about the spread of these Sri Lankan maids who take charge of raising the children with a foreign, non-Islamic upbringing entirely. So, even though she is a maid; what about if she is a wife? Her corruption will be greater and greater.
Therefore, I say: This ruling in this time must be stopped, taking into account what I mentioned earlier.

The questioner: May Allah reward you with good, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.