This is guest post by Yusuf Al Qaradawi, and first appeared on Islam Online
Ihsann – Afghanistan asks: “Is it permissible for a Muslim to marry a communist?”
“A young man has asked my daughter to be engaged to him. He’s a communist and still strongly adheres to communism. If he marries her will this be in accordance with the Sharia, bearing in mind that, at least officially, he practises Islam, his family are Muslims and he has an Islamic name?
Or must I refuse permission for him to marry my daughter because his ideology is corrupt?”
“In the name of Allah with prayers and peace on his messenger…..
It’s well known that communists are infidels and heretics. They don’t believe in Allah or the Last Day. Now if it wasn’t permissible for a Muslim woman to marry Someone of the Book, then it’s certainly not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a communist.
Yet if the marriage did take place between a Muslim woman and a communist then it’s obligatory that they must be split up and the father, who is communist, prevented from having access to his children until he no longer corrupts and denigrates their religion.
Sheikh Dr Yusef Al-Qaradawii gave the following Fatwa
“We’re obliged, even before answering this question, that we present a summary of the Communist position on religion in order to clear things up.
“Communism is a materialist doctrine. It doesn’t acknowledge anything other than what is material and therefore rejects the metaphysical. Communism doesn’t believe in Allah, the soul, revelation, the Afterworld, or in anything supernatural and divine.
Communism categorically denies & refutes all the religions and considers them myths & superstitions, remnants of ignorance, weakness and exploitation.
“The founder of Communism, Karl Marx, said the well known expression – ‘Religion is the opium of the people’. He disputed those who said that Allah (God) created the world and man, and he said mockingly that God didn’t create man but on the contrary, man created God. That is he devised God from his imagination.
Lenin said – It’s not possible for our revolutionary party to adopt a positive position on religion as religion is merely superstition and ignorance.
Stalin said – We are atheists and we believe that the idea of God is a myth. We also believe that religious faith is a barrier preventing our development. We do not want to make religion dominant on us because we do not want to be intoxicated by it.
This is both the Communist position, and both that of the doctrine and of its leaders, on religion. Therefore it wasn’t strange that we see that the Communist Party Manifesto and the Manifesto of the Communist International imposes atheism on all of its members and that it propagates against religion. The party strips anyone who indulges in religious practises of their party membership.
So therefore the Communist State will end the services of any employee who practises their religion.
So if true for the sake of argument that a communist only takes from communism its social and economic sides leaving aside its intellectual and ideological base – as some people imagine, though this is not realistic and certainly not plausible. Yet this was enough of an aberration of Islam and forsaking of it. This is because Islam has very clear rulings in regards to the managing social and economic life, which Communism refutes fully. These include – private possessions, inheritance and zakat, man’s relationship with woman etc. etc. etc. These rulings are known as being necessary in the religion of Islam and the Muslims deny the infidel unanimously.
Communism is a cohesive doctrine. It’s not possible in any way to separate its system, ideological base and its philosophy.
Therefore if Islam didn’t permit a Muslim woman to marry one of the People of the Book (Christians & Jews) who believe in God (Allah), his writings, message and the Last Day – then there’s absolutely no way that it would it allow for her to marry someone who doesn’t believe in a divine power, the prophecy, & the resurrection.
The communist is considered in Islamic ruling as an apostate, deserter, and as an infidel. It’s not permissible at all that a Muslim father accepts this man’s marriage proposal for his daughter. A Muslim girl doesn’t accept marrying him and she (should) satisfy God the Lord, Islam the religion, Muhammad the messenger and the Quran.
If he was Married to a [this] Muslim girl then it’s obligatory to separate him from his wife and keep him away from any children until he stops misleading them and denigrating their religion.
If this adherent to communism dies then it’s not permissible that he is washed, prayed on, or buried in a Muslim cemetery.
It’s obligatory that the Islamic Sharia rulings on apostates and renegades are applied on him and that he can expect the severest and most humiliating punishment from Allah in the next life.
“Nor will they cease to fight you until they make you, if they can, renounce your religion. Those of you who renounce their religion and die, while they are unbelievers, are those whose works come to grief [both] in this world and the Hereafter. And they are the people of the fire, abiding in it forever” – The Cow 217.
