Religion a factor?

[momof1 205]

The forms are to prove that you have a qualifying relative while the interview is to prove the validity of your relationship. I'm not saying you will get denied. I'm merely advising you both to be prepared for such questions. It's likely but not guaranteed that they will ask about it.

Our case was vastly different than yours but there are some small similarities. We were married in the US and were unable to adjust status. We were married for just over a yr and had a small baby at the time of the interview. He is ten yrs older which is common for MENA so you shouldn't have to worry. We've fought and overcome fraud charges for how he entered the Us which is why I mentioned being very clear about your intention for your last entry.

They are looking for the same things as when you file abroad...it's no different adjusting in country.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

So they would straight up ask him what religion he follows? A marriage is a marriage whether it's in the US or in Jordan, the other ceremony can be done later it's no big deal but that doesn't mean that my marriage license here isn't valid. I got married at our local town office since the whole thing was sudden and not planned, I didn't have a wedding.

[momof1 205]

They can ask whatever they want and that's the point I'm trying to make. I'm not saying it's fair or right. It is what it is. You jump through hoops until you are approved.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

Bring on the hoops then I'll go through it all if it means I stay with my husband.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Salaam,

Western consulates doesn't care if a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim man. Muslim women marry non-Muslim men all the time. Three of my aunts did. I imported a Lebanese Christian man to marry, and no one cared. My Moroccan cousin got a visa to France to marry a Christian guy there. The Prophet (pbuh) headed an ummah with lots of Muslim women married to non-Muslim men, and he never made them divorce, so this id not from the Quran nor the Quran. The so-called prohibition came after his death, and it's from fiqh, not Sharia, making it debatable.

The four major schools of Sunni jurisprudence agree that it is mukrah for Muslim men to marry a non-Muslim women if they are going to live in a non-Muslim country. This is also a known prohibition in fiqh law, however, how many Muslim men are turned down for a visa because of it? Any? I doubt it.

They can ask you about your religion as part of determining how much you know about each other, what you talk about, etc.. They can ask about your age, although your ages are disclosed on the disclosure forms. They're not supposed to recommend a denial due to an age gap because, when your papers are forwarded to the consulate, they already know about the gap. But, if they smell a rat, they can and do.

When my current husband and I married in Morocco, we had no ceremony, we had a 21 year age gap (I'm older). They didn't ask to see any evidence, didn't ask about age or religion. His interview lasted all of 5 minutes and he got his visa the next day.

In other words, you never know what will happen at the interview. The best thing s/he can do is don't act nervous, don't study his/her info or practice his/her answers while waiting, and add more to his/her responses than required, unless asked to elaborate. A simple yes or no with friendly eye contact is the way to go.

Sending your papers on for an interview is a tacit approval of a visa. It's up to you to blow it. The duty of the consulate is to look for holes in your story, deception on the part of one or both of you, and, if it finds them, recommend the reversal of the approval. They cannot deny you at the consulate; that is up to USCIS. Questions about religion can be part of that process, but, it is very likely that they know more about both of you before the interview than you realize. Because of that, it's always, always best never to lie to them.

May God be with you.

They don't ask on the forms because they can't blatantly discriminate their citizens (as your husband is a USC) based on religion. Same reason why on employment forms they don't ask if you are gay. That would be unconstitutional. This said, call it religion or tradition or whatever, if a muslim woman cannot marry a non-muslim man, then I am sure they will ask you/your husband about your religion and the change thereof, because it would raise a red flag if you married a non-muslim. Also, if according to your religion you need to have a certain type of ceremony, then they will want to see the pictures of it, and will ask you questions. Other than that, your religion is your business.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Sofiyya

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Some days, my typos are so bad, it's embarrassing. Correction:

Western consulates don't care if a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim man. Muslim women marry non-Muslim men all the time. Three of my aunts did. I imported a Lebanese Christian man to marry, and no one cared. My Moroccan cousin got a visa to France to marry a Christian guy there. The Prophet (pbuh) headed an ummah with lots of Muslim women married to non-Muslim men, and he never made them divorce, so this is not from the Quran nor the Sunnah. The so-called prohibition came after his death, and it's from fiqh, not Sharia, making it debatable.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

Thank you for your reply. My husband is a Muslim and he reverted before we got married because it isn't permitted for a Muslim woman to marry a non-muslim man.

For example, when this Muslim woman, tries to teach her kids to love and respect all prophets and believe in all of them, her non-Muslim husband will not agree, because he believes only in his prophet. He will interfere in the way she raises her kids, and prevents her from raising them in an Islamic way. And here comes the real problem, because she will have only two options, whether she leaves the whole thing as it is, and does nothing about it -which will be an insult to her religion- or she argues about the matter, and this will sure lead to more marital problems.

On the other hand, there will be no such problems between a Muslim husband, and a non Muslim wife, because if this wife tried to teach her kids to love and believe in her prophet, her Muslim husband will not refuse that because he already believes in her prophet and all prophets. This is why Islam allows the marriage between Muslim man and non-Muslim woman, and forbids the marriage between Muslim woman, and non-Muslim man. Because Islam respects the marital relationship and wants to guarantee its stability, not because it respects men, and disrespects women …

As long as it's not an issue and won't be that's fine with me Thank you all for your replies.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Ya, that's all cultural stuff, not Sunnah, not Quranic, definitely sexist and, therefore, unIslamic and not binding. Fiqh scholars have even started accepting that it's not supported by the text or the practice of the Prophet (pbuh). They're ruling now that a non-Muslim women who converts to Islam doesn't have to leave her non-convert husband if he's cool with her conversion.

Besides, it's been proven that children with a Muslim mother and a kitabi father are more likely to remain Muslim in adulthood than the children of a non-Muslim mother and a Muslim father because of the strong influence moms have over their kids. And, if the parents divorce, the Muslim mother is more likely to have custody of the kids.

In some parts of the ummah, Muslimas were encouraged to marry non-Muslim men because they were more likely to convert. Abu Bakr engaged Aisha to a Christian before she was married to the Prophet (pbuh). He wouldn't have done that if it was haraam.

When Muslims come to America, one of the things we can be thankful for is that we can learn the faith apart from the cultural norms that we learned at home.

Salaam and my best to you.

Thank you for your reply. My husband is a Muslim and he reverted before we got married because it isn't permitted for a Muslim woman to marry a non-muslim man.

For example, when this Muslim woman, tries to teach her kids to love and respect all prophets and believe in all of them, her non-Muslim husband will not agree, because he believes only in his prophet. He will interfere in the way she raises her kids, and prevents her from raising them in an Islamic way. And here comes the real problem, because she will have only two options, whether she leaves the whole thing as it is, and does nothing about it -which will be an insult to her religion- or she argues about the matter, and this will sure lead to more marital problems.

On the other hand, there will be no such problems between a Muslim husband, and a non Muslim wife, because if this wife tried to teach her kids to love and believe in her prophet, her Muslim husband will not refuse that because he already believes in her prophet and all prophets. This is why Islam allows the marriage between Muslim man and non-Muslim woman, and forbids the marriage between Muslim woman, and non-Muslim man. Because Islam respects the marital relationship and wants to guarantee its stability, not because it respects men, and disrespects women …

As long as it's not an issue and won't be that's fine with me Thank you all for your replies.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

It is actually Qura'anic dear

{وَلاَ تُنكِحُواْ الْمُشِرِكِينَ ‏حَتَّى ‏يُؤْمِنُواْ‎}

[Sofiyya 1,687]

It is actually Qura'anic dear

{وَلاَ تُنكِحُواْ الْمُشِرِكِينَ ‏حَتَّى ‏يُؤْمِنُواْ‎}

It's true, 2:221 forbids all Muslims from coupling with polytheists or those who fight against Islam. I'm not speaking of them; I'm speaking of ahl al kitab, people of the Book. That is the term the Quran uses for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Muslim men are forbidden to marry polytheists, so, if kitabi were also mushrikeen, all Muslims would be forbidden from marriage with them.

Ibn Abbas is one of the best known narrators of ahadith. His mother became a Muslim 20 years before his father, yet the Prophet (pbuh) did not order them to be divorced. Our Nabi also didn't treat woman as weak and easily lead, like we are portrayed in the example you posted. He consulted with them, he lead them into battle, he respected them. One of his wives helped him write treaties. Some of them, like Khadija, were strong women who owned businesses.

There is an entire sura in the Quran admonishing him for not having more control over his rambunctious wives. Our prophet preferred strong women and surrounded himself with them. His example is the one to follow, so I have never seen myself as weak or submissive to anyone other than Allah.

Allah (swt) requires us to find common ground with our ahl al kitab brothers and sisters, as we are all Allah's creation. He says He could have made us all believe the same, but He chose to let us learn to love each other.

In that spirit, I raised five beautiful Muslim children with a wonderful Christian man who parented with love and did not interfere with my practice or that of our children. In the process, I learned more about faith, grace, acceptance, and the left judgement to Him.

I'm not saying that this is what is to be done to bring peace to the world, but we must remember that Muslims are not His chosen people, we are just people. In the end, only He will know who is among the righteous and and only He will know who the real submitters are.

Salaam