The Ruling on Marrying Women from the People of the Book

Question: What is the ruling on marrying women from the People of the Book?

Answer: The ruling on this is permissibility and lawfulness according to the majority of scholars; based on the saying of Allah, the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah: 5]. The "chaste women" (muhsanat) are: free, chaste women, according to the most correct opinion of the scholars of exegesis.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his exegesis of this verse, and his exact words are: "And His saying: means: And He has made lawful for you the marriage of free, chaste women among the believing women. He mentioned this as a preparation for what follows, which is His saying, the Exalted: It was said: He intended free chaste women, excluding slave women. Ibn Jarir narrated this from Mujahid. Mujahid said: 'Free chaste women.' It is possible that he intended what was narrated from him, and it is possible that he intended 'free and chaste,' as in the other narration from him. This is the opinion of the majority here, and it is the most likely; so that it does not combine in her being a dhimmi (protected non-Muslim) and, at the same time, not chaste, which would corrupt her state entirely, and her husband would end up with what is said in the proverb: 'A dry sheath and bad measure.' The apparent meaning of the verse is that the intended 'chaste women' are those chaste from fornication, as He said, the Exalted, in the other verse: [An-Nisa: 25]. Then the exegetes and scholars differed regarding His saying: Does it encompass every chaste woman from the People of the Book, whether she is free or a slave? Ibn Jarir narrated this from a group of the Salaf who interpreted 'chaste' as 'chaste.'
It was said: The intended 'People of the Book' here are the Israelites, and this is the school of Al-Shafi'i. It was said: The intended meaning is dhimmis (protected non-Muslims), excluding those in a state of war; based on His saying, the Exalted: the verse [At-Tawbah: 29]. Abdullah ibn Umar did not consider it permissible to marry a Christian woman and said: 'I do not know a greater shirk (associating partners with Allah) than to say: Her Lord is Isa (Jesus).' And Allah, the Exalted, said: the verse [Al-Baqarah: 221].
And Ibn Abi Hatim said: Our father narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Hatim ibn Sulayman al-Mu'addib narrated to us, Al-Qasim ibn Malik, meaning al-Muzani, narrated to us, Isma'il ibn Sami' from Abu Malik al-Ghifari who said: This verse was revealed: He said: So the people were restricted from them until the verse after it was revealed: So the people married women from the People of the Book. A group of the Companions married women from the Christians and did not see any harm in it, taking this noble verse as their basis: They made this a specification for the one in the chapter of Al-Baqarah: If it is said that the People of the Book are included in its generality, otherwise there is no contradiction between them; because the People of the Book have been distinguished from the polytheists in their mention in more than one place, such as His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Bayyinah: 1] and His saying: the verse [Aal 'Imran: 20]). This is the end of the intended quote from Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him).
And Abu Muhammad Muwaffaq al-Din Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Qudamah al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book (Al-Mughni), and his exact words are: "There is no disagreement among the scholars, praise be to Allah, regarding the permissibility of free women from the People of the Book. Among those from whom this is narrated are: Umar, Uthman, Talhah, Hudhayfah, Sulayman, Jabir, and others. Ibn al-Mundhir said: 'It is not authentic from any of the early scholars that he forbade it.' Al-Khallal narrated with his chain: That Hudhayfah, Talhah, Al-Jarud ibn al-Ma'la, and Adhina al-'Abdi married women from the People of the Book. The rest of the scholars said the same. The Imamiyyah forbade it, relying on His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah: 221] and His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Mumtahanah: 10]. And for us is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: to His saying: [Al-Ma'idah: 5] and the consensus of the Companions.
As for His saying, the Exalted: It was narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that it was abrogated by the verse in the chapter of Al-Ma'idah. And it should be so for the other verse as well; because they are earlier, and the verse at the end of Al-Ma'idah is later than them. And others said: This is not abrogation, because the term 'polytheists' in its generality does not encompass the People of the Book; based on His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Bayyinah: 1] And He said: [Al-Bayyinah: 6] And He said: [Al-Ma'idah: 82] And He said: [Al-Baqarah: 105] And the rest of the verses of the Qur'an distinguish between them, so it indicates that the term 'polytheists' in its generality does not encompass the People of the Book. This is the meaning of the saying of Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Qatadah. And because what they argued with is general for every disbelieving woman, and our verse is specific regarding the permissibility of the People of the Book, and the specific must be prioritized.
Once this is established, it is better not to marry a woman from the People of the Book; because Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to those who married women from the People of the Book: "Divorce them." So they divorced them except for Hudhayfah, so Umar said to him: "Divorce her." He said: "Do you testify that it is forbidden?" He said: "It is khamr (intoxicants) that he divorced." He said: "Do you testify that it is forbidden?" He said: "It is khamr." He said: "I know that it is khamr, but it is lawful for me." When it was later, he divorced her. It was said to him: "Did you not divorce her when Umar ordered you?" He said: "I disliked that people would see that I did something that is not right for me." And because his heart might incline toward her and she might be a trial for him, and perhaps there would be a child between them and he would incline toward her. This is the end of the words of the author of Al-Mughni (may Allah have mercy on him).
The summary of what al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir and the author of al-Mughni (may Allah have mercy on both of them) mentioned is that there is no contradiction between His saying in Surat al-Baqarah: [al-Baqarah: 221], and His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in Surat al-Ma'idah: [al-Ma'idah: 5]; for two reasons:
The first is that the People of the Book are not included among the polytheists when the term is used in its general sense; because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has distinguished between them in many verses, such as His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) : [al-Bayyinah: 1], and His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): [al-Bayyinah: 6], and His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) : [al-Baqarah: 105], and other verses that distinguish between the People of the Book and the polytheists. On this basis, the chaste women from among the People of the Book are not included among the polytheist women whose marriage is prohibited in Surat al-Baqarah, so there remains no contradiction between the two verses. However, this view is subject to scrutiny, and the more likely position is that the People of the Book are included among the polytheists and polytheist women when the term is used in its general sense, both men and women; because they are disbelievers and polytheists without doubt. For this reason, they are prevented from entering the Sacred Mosque, due to His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) : [al-Tawbah: 28]. If the People of the Book were not included in the term "polytheists" in its general sense, this verse would not cover them. And when Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) mentioned the belief of the Jews and the Christians in Surat al-Bara'ah, He said after that: [al-Tawbah: 31], describing them all with shirk (associating partners with Allah); because the Jews said: "Aziz is the son of Allah," and the Christians said: "The Messiah is the son of Allah"; and because they all took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah. This is all among the ugliest forms of shirk, and there are many verses in this meaning.
And the second reason is: That the verse in Al-Ma'idah is a specification for the verse in Al-Baqarah, and the specific overrides the general and is prioritized over it, as is known in the principles of jurisprudence, and it is agreed upon in general. And this is the correct view; and by this it becomes clear that the chaste women from the People of the Book are lawful for Muslims, not included in the polytheist women whose marriage is forbidden according to the majority of scholars, rather it is like a consensus among them; based on what preceded in the words of the author of Al-Mughni. But leaving their marriage and being content with chaste women from the believers is better and more excellent; based on what came regarding this from the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) , and his son Abdullah, and a group of the righteous Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) .
And because marrying women from the People of the Book carries danger, especially in this age where the alienation of Islam has become entrenched, and righteous men who are jurists in religion have become few, and the inclination toward women has increased, and obedience and listening to them in everything except what Allah wills, so it is feared that the husband will be dragged by his wife from the People of the Book to her religion and her morals, as it is feared for their children from that. And Allah is the One to be sought for help.
If it is said: What is the wisdom in making chaste women from the People of the Book lawful for Muslims, and not making Muslim women lawful for men from the People of the Book?
The answer to that, and Allah knows best, is that when the Muslims believed in Allah and His messengers and what was revealed to them, including Musa ibn 'Imran and 'Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon them both), and among what was revealed to the messengers were the Torah revealed to Musa and the Gospel revealed to 'Isa, when the Muslims believed in all of this, Allah permitted them to marry the chaste women of the People of the Book as a favor from Him to them and a completion of His kindness to them. And when the People of the Book disbelieved in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and what was revealed to him of the great Book, which is the Qur'an, Allah forbade them from marrying Muslim women until they believe in His Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers. If they believe in him, our women become lawful for them, and they will have what we have, and they will be bound by what binds us. And Allah, the Exalted, is the just Judge, the All-Seeing of the conditions of His servants, the All-Knowing of what benefits them, the Wise in all things. Exalted is He, pure is He, and He is free from the statements of the misguided and the disbelievers and all other polytheists.
There is another wisdom, which is that a woman is weak and quickly submits to her husband. So if a Muslim woman were permitted to be married to men of the People of the Book, that would generally lead her to the religion of her husband. Therefore, the wisdom of Allah, the Exalted, necessitated forbidding that.