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Is it permissible for the head of an Islamic center, who is married to a Christian woman, to remain in his position as a religious guide?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible for a Muslim man to marry a chaste, virtuous woman from the People of the Book, based on the Almighty's saying: (and the chaste women from those who were given the Scripture before you). However, many scholars dislike such a marriage for the following reasons: fear of the non-chastity of the woman from the People of the Book, concern that Muslims might increasingly marry women from the People of the Book and neglect Muslim women, and the potential for corruptions such as disputes and risks to the children's religious upbringing. Despite its disliked status, what is disliked becomes permissible if a Muslim has a need for it. If the head of the Islamic center married a woman from the People of the Book, his action is originally disliked. However, it cannot be definitively asserted that it is disliked in his specific case if he had reasons that would remove the disliked status. Even if he committed a disliked act, he did not commit something forbidden or something that would invalidate his integrity or necessitate his dismissal, especially since the Muslim community in those lands is in dire need of unity and cohesion.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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