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What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding a recently converted Muslim wife who continues to conceal her conversion and does not wear the hijab for fear of her family and her work, knowing that she is customarily married and lives in a separate home from her husband?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the Russian wife is from the People of the Book (Jewish or Christian) and chaste, then it is permissible to marry her with the consent of her disbelieving guardian and two just witnesses. When she embraces Islam, she must adhere to the rulings of the Sharia, such as wearing the hijab and avoiding seclusion with non-mahram men. The husband must enjoin upon her what is good and forbid her from what is evil, gradually guiding her in the teachings of Islam, starting with instilling faith, then prayer, then the rest of the rulings such as the hijab, with wisdom and good admonition, and he should be a good role model. However, if she is not from the People of the Book, then marriage to her is not permissible in the first place. If she embraces Islam and you wish to remain with her, you must enter into a new contract. An unregistered marriage (zawaj urfi) is valid if it fulfills the conditions of marriage.

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

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