Muslim men may marry non-Mulsim women from the book (Jews and Christians), but not vice-versa.
You say that it is because they share the same prophets, but that is only true up until a point. Christians believe Jesus was a prophet, as do Muslims, but they don't accept Mohammed as a prophet -- so there would still exist some disagreement on the prophet issue -- not to mention the major differences and practices between the two religions in other areas.
And why, if we're allowing that marriage is possible even when the partners don't share the same religion, should it matter which religion which parent is? I never quite understood why people think that religion HAS TO go through the father. Especially when you consider that it is usually the mother who is teaching the child at home in the early, formative years...seems to me as if she would have more influence on a child's religious thinking than the father ever would.
And what of the point PM raised earlier, about Jews believing religion goes through the mother, yet Muslims believing it goes through the father. What to do in this mixed-marriage situation?
A question for those of you who actually went to the debate: did it focus mostly on religious issues, or were cultural ones addressed too (like Qatari girls being free to marry Indian or Brazilian men)? Especially here in the Gulf, it often seems that culture trumps religion, and this has been my experience with the issue of marriage. One (Qatari) man I dated for a very long time told me that even if I were to convert to Islam it would not be enough to allow me to be accepted by his family, because bottom-line was that I was not 'khaleeji'.
Show me the Qatari man who would allow his sister to marry an honest and God-fearing GOOD Muslim man from Somalia or India or Netherlands.
There isn't one.
"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."
-- Maya Angelou
Muslim men may marry non-Mulsim women from the book (Jews and Christians), but not vice-versa.
You say that it is because they share the same prophets, but that is only true up until a point. Christians believe Jesus was a prophet, as do Muslims, but they don't accept Mohammed as a prophet -- so there would still exist some disagreement on the prophet issue -- not to mention the major differences and practices between the two religions in other areas.
And why, if we're allowing that marriage is possible even when the partners don't share the same religion, should it matter which religion which parent is? I never quite understood why people think that religion HAS TO go through the father. Especially when you consider that it is usually the mother who is teaching the child at home in the early, formative years...seems to me as if she would have more influence on a child's religious thinking than the father ever would.
And what of the point PM raised earlier, about Jews believing religion goes through the mother, yet Muslims believing it goes through the father. What to do in this mixed-marriage situation?
A question for those of you who actually went to the debate: did it focus mostly on religious issues, or were cultural ones addressed too (like Qatari girls being free to marry Indian or Brazilian men)? Especially here in the Gulf, it often seems that culture trumps religion, and this has been my experience with the issue of marriage. One (Qatari) man I dated for a very long time told me that even if I were to convert to Islam it would not be enough to allow me to be accepted by his family, because bottom-line was that I was not 'khaleeji'.
Show me the Qatari man who would allow his sister to marry an honest and God-fearing GOOD Muslim man from Somalia or India or Netherlands.
There isn't one.
"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."
-- Maya Angelou