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Non-Practicing Convert Husband: Should I Divorce Him?

02 December, 2019
Q As-salamu `alaykum. I married a Christian man who converted to Islam 3 years ago. He does not practice Islam. He says he lives by the 10 commandments. We have a six-month-old baby and I worry that my husband will not set a good example for him. He wants to teach the baby both religions. I fear that my child will grow up not knowing what to believe. Should I divorce my non-practicing convert husband (in which case we will probably fight for who keeps the baby) or should I stay in this marriage in the hope that he may one day truly believe?

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

1- Practically speaking, you should keep your marriage in the hope that your non-practicing convert husband may reconsider his situation.

2- However, if, after some time, you lose hope in his change, you can divorce him.

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In responding  to your question about divorcing a non-practicing convert husband, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states,

If your non-practicing convert husband has embraced Islam by saying the shahadah (testimony of faith), then he goes out of the fold only by denouncing it or denying the fundamentals of Islam. These fundamentals include the obligatory Prayer, obligatory charity, fasting, Hajj. Otherwise, he is still regarded a Muslim.

As you should know the Quran also contains all the commandments except that of Sabbath.

So, I would advise you to stay in marriage, if you can trust him, and he is fulfilling his spousal duties.

You should pray for his guidance. Allah may open his heart to see the truth as truth and follow it.

If, however, you have no reasons to trust him, and he is simply playing with religion, then you have the right to divorce him.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.