“I say, and I know from experience, I wouldn't recommend it [marrying women of Ahl Al-Kitāb]. Actually, I believe it's Harām for a Muslim to marry a non-Muslim woman, although originally it's Halāl. No one can say it's Harām [generally], but the situation changed to the point that I believe it's Harām. Anyone who asks me about it, I tell him, “You shouldn't do it.” Why? Because when the man used to marry a non-Muslim woman, he was the man who could divorce her and bring her back. She was under his control. More than that, he had control over the kids you know, she's not going to take them and raise them in a church, he's going to take them under an Islāmic Khilāfah and raise them himself.
Today, I know a guy who’s supposedly named a Shaykh. He divorced his wife, an American who stayed 15 years with him. والله, his children today are Christians. He passed away, may Allāh forgive him. And it's not an exception, this is the norm, so it's dangerous to marry them now. If you want to take her and take her overseas to a country where at least they give you the kids — the main thing is the kids, you know — if you can do that, then we say that the situation is different. But the way the situation is in the United States, as you know — especially in Michigan where the laws side with the woman more than any other state probably — so this is not Islāmic. If you know you may be a cause for a new generation to become Christian, Catholics, or Jewish, then you're going to be cursed by Allāh. You know, they (your kids) are going to have kids and then they are going to have grandkids and they will probably continue to the last day before the Judgement Day. Who's the seed of this? You! So, that's dangerous.”
— Shaykh Ahmad Mūsā Jibrīl حفظه الله
Wise words and a wise opinion from the Shaykh, considering the reality of Western countries and marriages with Ahl Al-Kitāb among them. In fact, if you grew up in the West, you can attest to the fact that every single Muslim uncle you knew or heard of who married non-Muslim women and had children, their children today are not Muslims (والعياذ بالله). The pain in their eyes and voices as they beg others to not make the same mistake is evident, and their words reflect great grief over the disbelief of their progeny. It’s very sad that it took a Kāfir lineage and a messy divorce for many to learn their lesson and go back home to secure a Muslim wife. It’s punishment enough that they spend the rest of their days in regret, trying to bring their children to Islām or to convince them to even speak with them, and only Allāh knows what awaits in the Hereafter. May Allāh forgive them.
