Is it permissible for a wife to remain with her husband after she embraces Islam while he remains Christian, knowing that it is permissible for a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman?
If the wife embraces Islam while the husband remains upon his religion, she is not lawful for him, and separation between them becomes obligatory. However, if he embraces Islam before the expiry of her (waiting period), he has a stronger right to her. Some scholars are of the opinion that he has a stronger right to her even if he embraces Islam after the expiry of her iddah, so long as she has not remarried. The evidence for this is the Almighty's saying: "Then if you ascertain that they are believers, do not return them to the disbelievers; neither are they lawful for them, nor are those [disbelievers] lawful for them." And His saying: "And do not marry [your daughters] to idolaters until they believe." As for a Muslim man, it is permissible for him to marry a woman from the People of the Book, due to the Almighty's saying: "and the chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you."
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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