Can Muslim men attend church services with their spouses?

[MrsAmera 41]

wahrania - I see what you are saying. I am aware of the brutal past that Christianity can carry for some.

Maggie - How people interpret their beliefs is one thing, but truly it is the same God that all three of the Abrahamic faiths worship, again in different forms, with different interpretations yes but in the end same person.

I guess the point I was trying to make was simply that I think it's sad that all of this gets convoluted. If people could be more open to learning and understanding I really believe the world would be a different place.

[maggieNomar 0]

wahrania - I see what you are saying. I am aware of the brutal past that Christianity can carry for some.

Maggie - How people interpret their beliefs is one thing, but truly it is the same God that all three of the Abrahamic faiths worship, again in different forms, with different interpretations yes but in the end same person.

I guess the point I was trying to make was simply that I think it's sad that all of this gets convoluted. If people could be more open to learning and understanding I really believe the world would be a different place.

and I will respect your interpretation. I agree with you that it would be nice if all could understand the other. My huband attends church with me at times and we have deep discussions about both religions. It's a great way to understand each other a little better too.

Just the other day they segment on one of the nightline/dateline programs about the muslims who believe that if they are suicide bombers, they get their 72 virgins in paradise (my shorthand version of the story). They did not have someone from the muslim world to tell where that belief comes from and how it is different from the 'mainstream' beliefs of Islam. Even my husband commented that stories like that lead a lot of people to think that's what Islam is all about..suicide bombers and terrorits. Which those familiar with the religion know is not true.

To the OP: It all comes down to what your spouse believes. there are some that willingly go to church with their christian spouses and some who will not set foot on the dirt the church was built on.

[Nasturtium 500]

I agree with Maggie that is comes down to what your spouse believes. I have seen it listed as haraam to go to church, funerals, etc on several points and ahadeeth, including that all-covering "immitation of the kuffar", to swinging to halal as long as there is no worship/joining in. My husband won't enter my church because he said he is unsure about how he should view it-- haraam/halal-- and he's taking the safe road in his mind. I was just inviting him to come in from the car for once and watch singing practice, but he wasn't going to have it! And no matter what i showed him one way or the other, it doesn't sway his internally-developed opinion. There can also be cultural aspects to their refusal-- I know my husband said no one in his village would set foot in a Christian church in Irbed because someone would see you and could cause problems for you... and I guess that cultural prohibition over-rides the religious ones.

[Marry American 0]

My husband is a Muslim and believes wholeheartedly in his own beliefs. We have discussed our views in the past and from time to time they come up again. We do, however, believe that is is the same God.

I basically have been slacking in Church since he has been here. When he first arrived-we went together and he enjoyed himself. He believes that if he goes to Church with us as a family-we will attend regularly again.

[angeljan 0]

Wael can attend mass with me as (a watcher). He can attend weddings, funerals or any other events in the church as long as he doesn't worship.

My husband is a muslim and he attended mass with me at the beginning of November. It was a mass in rememberance of all who passed away within the year since November 06 til November 07- my sister was amongs them. He said it was ok as long as they don't pray. It was nice to have Amr by my side during that time. So I would say like Jeanne said is ok.

[boardashell_2000 0]

Thank you July for opening this debate actually I still think that I can’t go inside church where everyone worship am quite not sure what the Islamic rule says in this points. I went once with my wife to Christian’s center for her nephew graduation that was not for worshiping. I will never compare between religions I respect everyone believes..Islam don’t allows non Muslim to come into the mosque does not means Islam it not tolerant but for many deep reasons….Islam based on tolerance and I think all the religions does. I wish everybody in this forum graduate from comparing or being sarcastic to intellectual peaceful debate my wife and me sample of tolerance and love between believes.

I will end and say I still can’t go to the church as long as I have nothing to do there because church is place for worshiping and if I want to know about Christianity there is many ways ..peace upon you all

Yassine

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Thank you July for opening this debate actually I still think that I can’t go inside church where everyone worship am quite not sure what the Islamic rule says in this points. I went once with my wife to Christian’s center for her nephew graduation that was not for worshiping. I will never compare between religions I respect everyone believes..Islam don’t allows non Muslim to come into the mosque does not means Islam it not tolerant but for many deep reasons….Islam based on tolerance and I think all the religions does. I wish everybody in this forum graduate from comparing or being sarcastic to intellectual peaceful debate my wife and me sample of tolerance and love between believes.

I will end and say I still can’t go to the church as long as I have nothing to do there because church is place for worshiping and if I want to know about Christianity there is many ways ..peace upon you all

Yassine

What I've bolded above in your statement is true for Morocco (with I think just 2 exceptions) as well as for Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf countries; however *most* intepretations of Islamic law DO allow for non-Muslims to enter the mosque (as long as they follow the rules of conduct.)

I can assure you that al Aqsa and the other mosques in Palestine welcome non-Muslim visitors.... also those in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, the U.S. and many other countries. Often, there is a rule that non-Muslim visitors must be "People of the Book" -- Christians or Jews -- to be permitted to enter, but not always, and it's not always enforced.

-MK

Edited December 2, 2007 by wife_of_mahmoud

[mybackpages 0]

Thank you July for opening this debate actually I still think that I can't go inside church where everyone worship am quite not sure what the Islamic rule says in this points. I went once with my wife to Christian's center for her nephew graduation that was not for worshiping. I will never compare between religions I respect everyone believes..Islam don't allows non Muslim to come into the mosque does not means Islam it not tolerant but for many deep reasons….Islam based on tolerance and I think all the religions does. I wish everybody in this forum graduate from comparing or being sarcastic to intellectual peaceful debate my wife and me sample of tolerance and love between believes.

I will end and say I still can't go to the church as long as I have nothing to do there because church is place for worshiping and if I want to know about Christianity there is many ways ..peace upon you all

Yassine

What I've bolded above in your statement is true for Morocco (with I think just 2 exceptions) as well as for Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf countries; however *most* intepretations of Islamic law DO allow for non-Muslims to enter the mosque (as long as they follow the rules of conduct.)

I can assure you that al Aqsa and the other mosques in Palestine welcome non-Muslim visitors.... also those in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, the U.S. and many other countries. Often, there is a rule that non-Muslim visitors must be "People of the Book" -- Christians or Jews -- to be permitted to enter, but not always, and it's not always enforced.

-MK

More than 2 exceptions, but not much more. About 5 total that I know of. All of which are of some historical or artisitc value.

[nana_356 0]

Well I have my own experience on this one, islamic faith is tolerable of men marrying woman of other faiths, but woman marying a christian man is just unheard of. And thats exactly what I did, and he's african american to add to that, well to sum it up I cant go back to egypt, I will be killed with little consequence.

But overall i love being muslim, and I embrace the christian faith. the way I see it is both faiths have the same ultimate goal , and that is to serve god, and which ever religion/path a person chooses to take to serve the almighty is good enough for me!!! And personally i see nothing wrong with participating in worship, its worship to the same god,I wont pray to jesus but ill thank god for him any day,

[Marry American 0]

Well I have my own experience on this one, islamic faith is tolerable of men marrying woman of other faiths, but woman marying a christian man is just unheard of. And thats exactly what I did, and he's african american to add to that, well to sum it up I cant go back to egypt, I will be killed with little consequence.

But overall i love being muslim, and I embrace the christian faith. the way I see it is both faiths have the same ultimate goal , and that is to serve god, and which ever religion/path a person chooses to take to serve the almighty is good enough for me!!! And personally i see nothing wrong with participating in worship, its worship to the same god,I wont pray to jesus but ill thank god for him any day,

Did you mean literally that you would be killed for marrying an African American from the Cristian faith if you went back to Egypt?

[Alt name 1]

Islam does not teach that Allah took Jesus off the cross and replaced him with someone else. Islam teaches that Jesus was one of the true prophets who was a man and that the mother of Jesus was most holy among women. Islam teaches that worshipping Jesus is a form of worshipping a man rather than the one true God, and that is where it differs from Christianity.

Before I converted my husband said yes but he couldn't participate in "worshipping Jesus". I don't have any insight into Quranic references however it would be like a Christian attending a mosque and even praying as it's the same god and the Quran does say that.

Don't let yourself be fooled Amera. It's not the same God. I used to believe that. But if you think about it, the Christian God gave His son on the cross. (whether you believe a literal son (trinity) or that Jesus came by the Power of God). I say this only because one of the basic beliefs in Christianity is the crucifiction of Christ for our sins. The Islamic God did not, as Islam teaches that Allah took Jesus off the cross and replaced him with someone else.

I did not write this to argue religious points. Only for you Amera to be aware of another side of that thinking.

[Alt name 1]

It is not forbidden for non-Muslims to enter the Masjid. It is Sunnah to welcome them.

Thank you July for opening this debate actually I still think that I can't go inside church where everyone worship am quite not sure what the Islamic rule says in this points. I went once with my wife to Christian's center for her nephew graduation that was not for worshiping. I will never compare between religions I respect everyone believes..Islam don't allows non Muslim to come into the mosque does not means Islam it not tolerant but for many deep reasons….Islam based on tolerance and I think all the religions does. I wish everybody in this forum graduate from comparing or being sarcastic to intellectual peaceful debate my wife and me sample of tolerance and love between believes.

I will end and say I still can't go to the church as long as I have nothing to do there because church is place for worshiping and if I want to know about Christianity there is many ways ..peace upon you all

Yassine

What I've bolded above in your statement is true for Morocco (with I think just 2 exceptions) as well as for Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf countries; however *most* intepretations of Islamic law DO allow for non-Muslims to enter the mosque (as long as they follow the rules of conduct.)

I can assure you that al Aqsa and the other mosques in Palestine welcome non-Muslim visitors.... also those in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, the U.S. and many other countries. Often, there is a rule that non-Muslim visitors must be "People of the Book" -- Christians or Jews -- to be permitted to enter, but not always, and it's not always enforced.

-MK

More than 2 exceptions, but not much more. About 5 total that I know of. All of which are of some historical or artisitc value.

[NancyB 0]

LOL! I think the person who wrote this really wanted answers and honest answers. Excuse my language, but what I read from the "so called Muslims" are bulls***t on this board. I loved the honesty from the non-Muslims on here. The Muslim men, well this is funny.

For the life of me I can't understand why these men can't be honest. First of all, Yes the most accepted story is Jesus(peace be upon him) was replaced on the cross, and taken up to Heaven by Allah(swt), like Jacob ladder people. I believe it was Jacob who went up to heaven on a ladder according to the bible. Correct me if I'm wrong. Their was 2 criminals up with Jesus(peace be upon him), and Allah(swt) took Jesus up, saved him from dying on the cross and changed the face of the other criminal and that's when the criminal yelled "Allah, why have thou forsaken me." Just think about it. If Jesus(peace be upon him" knew his job was to die for all human sins, he would've never yelled "why did thou forsaken me" and accepted his fate or job or assigned task. That's all folks, no big differences in Islam and Christianity then this. Jesus didn't know this word Christianity, because even in the bible he said he didn't come to bring anything new. Just fullfill the law sent to Moses(peace be upon him). That's why Jewish people can't accept Christianity as well as Muslims. We don't lie and make up things about Jesus that he didn't say himself.

My point of responding though is to say to you ladies, most of you have liars for husbands, sorry to be the one to tell you. If he really didn't think it was a problem to attend services with you. Tell him to convert and see his reaction. I promise you if you told him you read it here, they would accuse me of being crazy. It's so typical of them. Then wait 5,10 years and see how he changed on you.

Jews and Muslims don't worship Jesus as the Christians, so please don't accept or believe we are worshiping the same God. Jesus was created and God was not. It's correct to a Muslim and Jew to say Jesus prayed and worship God, and that God we worship also. I think that Muslim men should have explain this one MOST IMPORTANT thing. Muslims just won't ever believe God created Mary and inpregnated himself in her and made her give birth to him, so, I believe the men should be clear and honest about this. I think they should explain why church is not a place they would want to go, and also Jewish men. The ones that go now, will one day lose his patience with you and then you will not understand what has happen to "open- minded" Ahmed, to him it's just being polite and not wanting to hurt your feelings.

I really wish a lot of women before getting involved with Muslim and Jewish Men would learn more about their religion and not brush it off as well "he is different" and we won't have to deal with these questions and problems after marrying.

I still advise women till this day to get over your lust of Mohammeds and Ahmeds and ask him plain and simply, how important Allah is to him? Second question is Who would you worship Allah or Jesus? Third question...Who would you like your children to worship? If it's different from what you believe get over him and move on. If you think he will change..check the stats and see how many of them convert out of Islam. So for me it's better to suffer with his lost before marriage then after especially with children involved.

[Alt name 1]

There were some who did give honest answers. I would ask that you would please try not to curse, or make a judgement, and control your tongue, this was an honest question and gets to the root of the differences in the core beliefs between Islam and Christianity

Maybe I can explain it in Americanism and from the standpoint of what Christianity teaches (lol, I'll try anyway)

Asking a Muslim man (or woman) to attend Church services is asking him/her to participate / associate in the worship of someone other than what Islam teaches is the one and only true god. This is equivalent to asking him/her to commit what they believe in their heart is a mortal sin, whether you realize it or not.

To what purpose do you expect to attend Church together?

For a marriage between a muslim and non-muslim to work, there has to be a spiritual separation, a complete separation, between the two sets of beliefs. They cannot be merged. A Christian who reverts to Islam must publicly state there is no other god besides the one true, denying that Jesus and God are the same. Christianity teaches that is a mortal sin. A Muslim who participates in the worship of Jesus over who he or she believes is the one true God commits what is taught to be a mortal and unforgivable sin.

A marriage without a spiritual base is empty. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Playtime

Christians get to pick and choose what parts of the Bible they want to follow and, say, what parts they might sort of well ignore? Islam does not permit one to pick and choose which passages of the Quran to ignore and which passages are convenient to follow. Which, I believe, might also be a fundamental difference between Christianity and Islam.

Think of it as this, what if you married a Christian man who absolutely follows every teaching of the Bible, was committed to the Bible, and believed that the Bible is a law given from God, and must be followed. If you didnt elect preachers to re-interpret the Bible for you, your life in church might go something like this:

1st Corinthians 11:9 - "Let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a woman to speak in a church

Timothy 2:12 "I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men, she is to keep silent"

1 Corinthians 11:5 - "any woman who prays and prophecies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is the same as if her head were shaven. If a woman will veil herself then she should cut off her hair. If it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil"

You have married men who, if they truly practice Islam, do not, and never will, re-interpret their teachings for their convenience.

LOL! I think the person who wrote this really wanted answers and honest answers. Excuse my language, but what I read from the "so called Muslims" are bulls***t on this board. I loved the honesty from the non-Muslims on here. The Muslim men, well this is funny.

For the life of me I can't understand why these men can't be honest. First of all, Yes the most accepted story is Jesus(peace be upon him) was replaced on the cross, and taken up to Heaven by Allah(swt), like Jacob ladder people. I believe it was Jacob who went up to heaven on a ladder according to the bible. Correct me if I'm wrong. Their was 2 criminals up with Jesus(peace be upon him), and Allah(swt) took Jesus up, saved him from dying on the cross and changed the face of the other criminal and that's when the criminal yelled "Allah, why have thou forsaken me." Just think about it. If Jesus(peace be upon him" knew his job was to die for all human sins, he would've never yelled "why did thou forsaken me" and accepted his fate or job or assigned task. That's all folks, no big differences in Islam and Christianity then this. Jesus didn't know this word Christianity, because even in the bible he said he didn't come to bring anything new. Just fullfill the law sent to Moses(peace be upon him). That's why Jewish people can't accept Christianity as well as Muslims. We don't lie and make up things about Jesus that he didn't say himself.

My point of responding though is to say to you ladies, most of you have liars for husbands, sorry to be the one to tell you. If he really didn't think it was a problem to attend services with you. Tell him to convert and see his reaction. I promise you if you told him you read it here, they would accuse me of being crazy. It's so typical of them. Then wait 5,10 years and see how he changed on you.

Jews and Muslims don't worship Jesus as the Christians, so please don't accept or believe we are worshiping the same God. Jesus was created and God was not. It's correct to a Muslim and Jew to say Jesus prayed and worship God, and that God we worship also. I think that Muslim men should have explain this one MOST IMPORTANT thing. Muslims just won't ever believe God created Mary and inpregnated himself in her and made her give birth to him, so, I believe the men should be clear and honest about this. I think they should explain why church is not a place they would want to go, and also Jewish men. The ones that go now, will one day lose his patience with you and then you will not understand what has happen to "open- minded" Ahmed, to him it's just being polite and not wanting to hurt your feelings.

I really wish a lot of women before getting involved with Muslim and Jewish Men would learn more about their religion and not brush it off as well "he is different" and we won't have to deal with these questions and problems after marrying.

I still advise women till this day to get over your lust of Mohammeds and Ahmeds and ask him plain and simply, how important Allah is to him? Second question is Who would you worship Allah or Jesus? Third question...Who would you like your children to worship? If it's different from what you believe get over him and move on. If you think he will change..check the stats and see how many of them convert out of Islam. So for me it's better to suffer with his lost before marriage then after especially with children involved.

[Nagishkaw 510]