What are the real-life cases from the era of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in which Muslim women left their polytheist husbands, thereby confirming that it is impermissible for a Muslim woman to remain married to a non-Muslim man, in order to convince those who do not believe in this?
The prohibition of a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim is established by the words of the Almighty: ﴿And do not marry (your daughters) to polytheists until they believe﴾ and ﴿Neither are these (Muslim women) lawful for them (unbelievers) nor are those (unbelievers) lawful for them (Muslim women)﴾. This is a consensus of the Ummah.
Examples include: 1. Zaynab, the daughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him), embraced Islam before her husband, Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabi'. Their marriage was annulled. Then he embraced Islam, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) returned her to him. The practice is that the husband returns to her without a new contract if he embraces Islam within her waiting period (iddah), but if her iddah has expired, she is free to choose. 2. Arwa bint Rabi'ah ibn al-Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib: Islam separated her from her husband, Talhah ibn Ubayd Allah (before he embraced Islam), then she married Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-Aas. 3. Umm Sulaym embraced Islam before Abu Talhah, and his conversion to Islam became her dowry (mahr). 4. The daughter of al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah embraced Islam before her husband, Safwan ibn Umayyah. Their marriage was annulled. Then he embraced Islam and returned to her. 5. Umm Hakim bint al-Harith ibn Hisham embraced Islam before her husband, Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl. Their marriage was annulled. Then Ikrimah embraced Islam within her waiting period (iddah), and she returned to him.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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