Marriage to a Woman of the People of the Book – Do You Advise It?

We have already stated in the answer to question no. 45645 the ruling on marrying a woman of the People of the Book (i.e., a Jewish or Christian woman), which is permissible according to the texts. There we have listed the conditions which must be met by that Jewish or Christian woman. However, we do not recommend marrying such women because of the harms to which that leads and because the conditions usually are not met by some of them. 

In the answers to questions no. 12283, 20227 and 44695 we have mentioned some of the negative effects of marrying women of the People of the Book in this day and age, which include those described by Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) who said: 

But in this day and age there is the fear that those who marry them may be faced with great evil, because they may call them to follow their religion and that may lead to their children becoming Christianized. So the danger is great and in order to be on the safe side a believer should not marry such a woman. And there is no guarantee that such a woman will not fall into immorality, and that children who are not his may be attributed to him.  

End quote. 

Please see the answer to question 2527 for a list of conditions for marrying a woman of the People of the Book. 

It should be noted that whoever forsakes such a marriage, seeking that which is better for his religious commitment and the religion of his children, Allaah will compensate him with something better, for “whoever gives up something for the sake of Allaah, Allaah will compensate him with something better than it,” as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said. 

And Allaah knows best.