What if a Hindu male marries a Muslim female? Why is it never discussed?

By Harasankar Adhikari
Is interfaith marriage in India a curse? Many incidents of interfaith marriage witness dangerous victimhood. Various public media (cinema, theatre, TV serials, and so forth) are continuously raising (will continue to raise) their voices against this discrimination. Is it not a biassed campaign? Everybody uses it to criticise Hinduism and its stringent orthodox rules of law.
But if a Hindu male marries a female of Islam, then what may be the situation? It was never discussed, is being discussed, or is to be discussed. Particularly, secular politics never utters a word. Perhaps, all the wrongs are with Hinduism because of its application. Everybody always talks of liberty to Hindus. Is it not a one-sided game? There is a common tendency to support minorities. In reality, the minority or majority is a playing card. Everybody likes to play it. And they never think about it liberally.
No religion permits interfaith marriage. For this reason, every religion is within the boundaries of self-governed rule. It is nothing but the protection of a religion.
We see that the marriage laws of Hinduism and Islam are poles apart. It is only a belief in a divine entity. Both Hindus and Muslims reject the idea of intermarrying on religious grounds. Marriage is legal between a Hindu and Christian under the Hindu Marriage Act, while a Nikah between a non-Muslim and Muslim is illegal. Marriage in Hinduism is a sacred relationship. In Hindu mythology, it is considered as one of the most important "sanskaras." The Rig Vedas state that marriage is a never-ending union of two souls.
From the following two verses of the Quran (the English version is from Picthall’s well-known translation of the Quran), we see that the Islamic canon law (shariah) prohibits inter-religious marriage but allows a Muslim male to marry a Jewish or Christian woman. (Quran, 2:221)
“Wed not idolatresses till they believe; for lo! A believing bondwoman is better than an idolatress though she please you; and give not your daughters in marriage to idolaters till they believe, for lo! A believing slave is better than an idolater though he please you. These invite unto the Fire, and Allah inviteth unto the Garden, and unto forgiveness by His grace, and expoundeth thus His revelations to mankind that haply they may remember.” (Quran, 5:5)
“This day are (all) good things made lawful for you. The food of those who have received the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you (lawful for you) when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honor, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines. Whoso denieth the faith, his work is vain and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.”
It reveals that a Muslim should not marry such Hindus who are idolaters. From these verses, the marriage of a Muslim, whether male or female, would be permissible with a non-Muslim, provided he or she is not a polytheist and does not practise idolatry. Islam says that marriage is a contractual relationship between two individuals. ‘If the contractual parties do not stand in the list of prohibited degrees of marriage, as given in the Quranic text, as such (Quran, 4:22-23) differences in race, religion, caste, and economic status should not stand in the way of their marriage, provided the non-Muslim party has clearly repudiated idol-worship in theory and practise. A Muslim marrying a non-Muslim does not violate any basic tenet of Islam so long as the non-Muslim, as an individual, does not commit himself or herself to idolatry’.
‘The thought and value systems of Christianity and Hinduism have responded much more positively and vigorously to the requirements and demands of the modern age. But, unfortunately, Islam has been left behind in the quest for a suitable reconstruction of its basic concepts and values to meet new challenges posed by the contemporary human situation.’ ‘The Quranic texts on the subject of inter-religious marriage are an intrinsically valid insight rather than a mere pragmatic adjustment to the present global society marked by emerging democratic pluralism.’
So, secular politics should rethink the matter before criticising the Hindus.

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