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Interfaith Marriage among Male Muslims: Factors and 

Effects (A Case of Abeokuta Metropolis, Ogun State of 

Nigeria) 

By 

Waheed Adeyemi Situ 

 

 

Abstract 

In spite of the difference of opinion on the legality of a male Muslim marrying a 

Christian woman, some male Muslims enter into marriage with Christian women. 

This practice has been proven to have some negative effects on the couples, their 

children and in the Muslim ummah. Although there is existing literature on 

interfaith marriage between Moslems and Christians, most treat the topic from 

women’s perspective; very few researchers have covered interfaith marriage from 

men’s perspective, which is the focus of this study. Specifically, this study 

investigates the main causes and effects of male Muslims going into marriage 

with Christian women with the goal of suggesting ways of curbing the practice. 

This study employs quantitative survey research design, using questionnaire as 

research instrument. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was adopted and 

administered, using snowball sampling technique, among 106 Muslims sampled 

from families which are involved in interfaith marriage in Abeokuta metropolis of 

Ogun State. The data collected from the participants were statistically analysed 

with the use of SPSS version 24.  

Keywords: interfaith, jihad, alh al-Kitab, ummah 

 

 

Background to the study 

In any society, religion determines people’s day to day life and hardly can 

we find a phenomenon which is not guided by religion. Islam places 

emphasis on marriage as an institution of a great benefit to the individuals 

and society. Marriage has been in existence since the time of Adam as 

Allah provided for him a mate, Hawawu, and they had children. Allah 

says: “And among His signs is that: He had created mates for you from 

among yourselves so that you may find tranquility with them.” (Q30:21). 

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) said: “Marriage is part of my Sunnah. And 

whoever does not follow my Sunnah has nothing to do with me.” 

However, this is guided by law in Islam. Marriage between couples who 



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share different faiths exits in many societies from time immemorial, 

despite the fact that it is not devoid of one problem or the other. Many 

male Muslims are faced with challenges as a result of being married to 

wives who are non-Muslim. Allah discourages inter-religious marriage in 

the Glorious Qur’an, except the woman or man embraces Islam sincerely 

and wholeheartedly. Allah says: “Do not marry unbelieving woman 

(idolaters) until they believe; a slave woman who believes is better than an 

unbelieving woman, even though she allures you nor marry your (girls) to 

unbelievers until they believe…” (Q2:221). 

This is a clear prescription for a Muslim before going into a marriage. 

From all indications, from the Glorious Qur’an and the Hadith of Prophet 

Muhammad (S.A.W), it is established that marriage is compulsory for all 

Muslims but guided by rules and regulations in Islam. 

Allah legalizes the food and women of ahl al-Kitāb (Jews and Christians) 

for Muslim consumption. Allah says: “This day are (all) things good and 

pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful 

unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are 

(not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the 

People of the Book.” (Q5:6). Based on this, some male Muslims marry 

Christian women as wives. These marriages are not devoid of unpleasant 

implications on the couples, the children and the Muslim ’ummah 

(community) at large.  

Most of the children from these families often end up practising 

Christianity, the religion of their mother, as most of the wives (mothers) 

domineeringly take the children to churches, as they do not usually 

practise Islam with their husbands, or revert to Christianity if a slight 

condition of hardship befalls them, their husbands or children when their 

husbands are too incapacitated to stop them from this practice. In fact, the 

context of the ayah, which does not expressly state the conversion of the 

Christian woman to Islam as a condition for the legality of the marriage, 

engenders different opinions from Islamic scholars. Some Islamic scholars 

submit that a Christian woman under the husbandhood of a Muslim man 

can continue practising her religion (Christianity or Judaism) without 

necessarily converting to Islam. Yusuf (1974), in his commentary on the 

ayah (verse), submitted that a Muslim man may marry a Christian woman 

with the expectation that the Christian woman would need to succumb to 

the interest of her husband, religious interest inclusive.  

However, in spite of the permissibility of a Muslim man marrying a chaste 

woman from the People of the Book, some Islamic jurists, such as the 

Hanafis, frown at the lawfulness of a male Muslim marrying a Christian 



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woman. Niekert and Vertuyten (2018), using Multi Structural Modelling 

Equation as statistical analysis technique, carried out a research involving 

21,373 participants in 22 Muslim-majority countries on attitudes of 

Muslim parents towards interfaith marriage between Muslims and 

Christians. They found out that although some Muslims allowed interfaith 

marriage, some have negative attitude toward sons marrying a Christian 

woman while some exhibited strong negative attitude toward a daughter 

marrying a Christian husband. Their respective attitudes depended heavily 

on the depth or level of their religiosity. The study did not look at the 

effect of the Muslim man marrying a Christian woman. Moreover, the 

areas or places where the research was carried out were traditionally and 

culturally different from the Nigerian, Yoruba and Abeokuta environment. 

The unique relevance of this research is that it fills a vacuum  by being the 

first time a study on the effect of a Muslim man marrying a Christian 

woman was carried out in the Abeokuta, and probably also in the Yoruba, 

environment.   

Nolte studied religious coexistence among the Yoruba people of 

Southwest Nigeria, exploring interfaith marriage between Muslims and 

Christians as a positive anchor fostering their relationship. Though he 

confirmed that the Muslim-Christian marriage is problematic, he did not 

focus his study on the factors and effects of a Muslim man marrying a 

Christian woman.  

Hence, this work aims at investigating the factors that are responsible for 

inter-religious marriage and its effects on the Muslim homes and the 

general Muslim ummah in Abeokuta metropolis. This is to serve as a guide 

for Muslim children who are yet to marry and as a tool for awakening and 

encouraging parents and Muslim clerics to preach against interfaith 

marriage, particularly Muslim-Christian marriage.  

Research Methodology  

The paper used survey design and utilized quantitative technique. A five-

point Likert scale was adopted to gather the primary data. A snowball 

method was employed to administer the questionnaire across five main 

areas in the Abeokuta metropolis, namely, Tόtorό, Àdátán, Ìjàyè, Rounder 

and Àgό-Ìbà. The total sample for this study was one hundred and six 

(106) respondents. Both males and females participated significantly in 

answering the questionnaire. The face and content validity of the 

instrument was checked by giving the questionnaire to some experts in 

Islamic Studies. All the item-statements were considered good for the 

research. Reliability test was carried out through a test-re-test method and 

there were close similarity in the results obtained from the pilot tests. This 



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means that the items were reliable. Data collected were subjected to simple 

percentages analysis using the SPSS version 24. 

Principles of Marriage in Islam 

Five major principles must be observed for a lawful marriage in Islam. 

These are:  

Hijābwa al-Qubūl (Offer and Acceptance): This usually means a man 

offering a woman a marriage proposal and the latter accepting; however, a 

woman can as well offer a man a marriage proposal. The basic rule on this 

is that either party must voluntarily and consciously accept the offer, and 

not compelled or forced to accept. The offer and the acceptance may be 

oral or written and should not be made under any influence of intoxication 

nor while any party is sleeping. Islam greatly disapproves of forcing, 

particularly, a woman into marriage. This is supported by the hadith of the 

Prophet (P.B.U.H)) thus: 

The Apostle of Allah said: “Do not marry the divorced or widow 

except with their consent and do not marry the virgin except with their 

permission.  They asked: “O you apostle of Allah! How would a 

virgin give her consent? He said (to them): “By keeping silent. 

(Muslim, Hadith no. 3306). 

Consent of Waliyy (Guardian): This is another principle in the validity of 

marriage proposal. The approval of the guardian of a woman is 

compulsory before a marriage is considered valid in Islam. The guardian 

could be the biological father of the lady intending to be married or any of 

her paternal uncles who must be a Muslim or the imam of her mosque or 

organisation or the qādi (judge) of an Islamic court. Approval of waliyy is 

so important that without it there is no marriage. Allah says in the Glorious 

Qur’an: “And wed them with the leave of their owners…” Q4:25. 

Mahr (Pride Price): Mahr is a compulsory gift from a man to the lady. 

Allah says: “…And give them their dowers according to what is 

reasonable…” Q4:25. Mahr can be paid in advance or at the point of 

marriage or deferred to an agreed future time. No maximum or minimum 

amount of money is fixed for the mahr in the Qur’an but a sum could be 

fixed on the agreement of the contracting parties or by the mosque or the 

Muslim ’ummah (community).  

Two witnesses (al-Shāhidān): It is required that minimum of two 

witnesses which could be from the families of the man and/or the woman 

must attest to solemnisation of a marriage contract in Islam. This serves as 

mini publicity of a marriage.  



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Walimahal-Nikāh: This is the celebration of marriage ceremony. This is 

recommended but not compulsory, according to submission of the jurists. 

However, the Prophet enjoined the Muslims to observe marriage ceremony 

with at least a goat for people to dine with the couples. Walimahal-

nikāhalso serves as marriage publicity beyond the third principle of nikāh 

– two witnesses – as discussed above. The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said: 

“Celebrate (your marriage) even if it is with a sheep.” (Ibn Ismail Hadith 

No. 2047)  

The observance of the above conditions is to ensure that the marriage is 

not unintentional and that it is openly conducted with the support and 

awareness of family members and the public. For a male Muslim going 

into marriage with a female Christian, following the aforementioned 

principles, it should be crystal clear that such a woman must automatically 

become a Muslim, and it must be emphasised that she cannot revert or 

reverse. If this could be achieved, the action will be regarded as jihād (act 

of propagation of Islam) according to Sharī‘ah. 

Who should not go into Marriage in Islam? 

An insane person, someone who is mentally sick (al-majnūn), whether a 

male or a female, is not allowed to marry in Islam as marriage covers a 

half of a Muslim’s faith. Similarly, an immature person who is not yet 

considered as al-bāligh (adult) is prohibited from marriage until such 

reaches the puberty age. An impotent man (ỏkόbό in Yoruba language) is 

not allowed to go into marriage in Islam. A man must be sound and has 

capacity to have intercourse without any condition that can deprive the 

woman from having sex. Similarly, a woman must also possess the female 

organ for sexual intercourse. A woman with closed virgina (lákíríboto) is 

not allowed to go into marriage, according to Sharī‘ah, because this would 

prevent the couple from having sexual intercourse and breeding children, 

thus jeopardising the objectives of marriage. A sick person that has a 

protracted health challenge(s) is not allowed to go into marriage. A man or 

woman can go for divorce if the other is unhealthy or a man can marry 

another woman to replace unhealthy wife. Thus, a man or woman going 

into marriage must be physically healthy. He or she must be free from any 

sort of communicable diseases, extremely bad body odour, mouth odour, 

eye cancer, leprosy, etc, that may be unbearable for either party.  

In the case of the hermaphrodite, it is regarded as genderless. However, a 

hermaphrodite’s eligibility to go into marriage depends on the 

predominant sexual organ. If the female organ is predominant over the 

male organ, the person is considered to be androgynous. Thus, she is 

treated as a woman and could be married as a wife to a husband. In like 



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manner, a person is considered a male if the male organ is more 

predominant than the female organ. 

Prohibited Marriage in Islam 

Other than the prohibition of Muslims from marrying non-Muslims 

(unbelievers) and/or the contentious opinions on the lawfulness of a 

Muslim man or woman marrying a Christian man or woman, some forms 

of marriage are prohibited in Islam. Allah mentions the categories of 

people prohibited from marrying one another in the Qur’an. Allah says: 

And marry not women who your fathers married except what is past. 

It was shameful and odious, an abominable custom indeed. Prohibited  

to you  (for marriage) are your mothers; daughters; sisters; fathers’ 

sisters; mothers’ sisters; brothers’ daughters; sisters’ daughters; fosters 

mother (who gave you suck); foster sisters; your wives’ mothers; your 

step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom 

you have gone in - No prohibition if you have not gone in; (Those 

who have been) the wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; 

and two sisters at one and at the same time, except for what is past; 

For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Also (prohibited are) 

women already married, except those whom your right hands possess; 

Thus has God ordained (prohibition) against you; except for these, all 

other are lawful… (Q4:22-24). 

A marriage among these groups of people is subsumed as a consanguine 

marriage under the categories of prohibited marriages in Islam as 

discussed below.  

Consanguine Marriage is a type of marriage between two couples who are 

closely related especially by blood. Etymologically, consanguine takes its 

root from two Latin words “con”, a prefix which means “with”, and 

“sanguis”, which means blood; the combination of both means “with 

blood” i.e. related by blood. So, foster marriage, marrying one’s sister, 

mother or niece is consanguineous (Marriam-Webster). And thus, it is 

prohibited in Islam.  

Another form of prohibited marriage is polyandry, that is, one woman 

being married to more than one man at the same time. The word came 

from the Greek, “poly”, which means “many” and “andros”, which means 

“man” (Marriam-Webster). Allah also prohibits same sex marriage of any 

form be it man to man, which is called gay marriage, or woman to woman, 

which is called lesbianism. Same sex marriage, particularly man to man, 

was condemned by Allah. And Allah severely destroyed the people who 

practised gay sex in the time of Prophet Lut (Q9:70). Temporary marriage 

is a contract specified for a particular period of time which can be for some 



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months or years depending on the agreement between the couples. It was 

mostly practised by travelers or traders who used to travel to other places 

and stayed there for some time. The marriage is terminated at the 

expiration of the term of their agreement. Temporary marriage was said to 

have been allowed by Prophet Muhammad as contained in one of his 

ahadith compiled by Muslimas narrated by Abdullah bnMas’ud: 

Abdullah bnMas’ud reported: We were on an expedition with Allah’s 

Messenger (Peace be upon him) and we had no women with us. We 

said: Should we not have ourselves castrated? He (peace be upon him) 

forbade us not to do so. He then granted us permission that we should 

contract temporary marriage for a stipulated period given her garment 

and Abdullah then recited this verse: Those who believe do not make 

unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you and do 

not transgress (Q5:87).  

In spite of this hadith, NikahMut’ah (temporary marriage) is considered by 

the Sunni Muslims as unlawful and that the referred hadith has been 

abrogated (Q4:24). The practice is considered a systematic or indirect 

approval of prostitution. The Zaidi Shiites condemned it whereas the 

twelvers Shi’ites still allow temporary marriage in their doctrines 

(Sundawi, 2013). Submissively, any of the marriages above is illicit in 

Islam.  

Demographic Profiles of Respondents 

From the gender profiles of the participants, it is revealed that females 

participated most in the study with 65.1% of the sample size. A total of 

34.9% was males. This reveals that females were more available than their 

male counterparts and they were ready to partake in the study. The 

participants fell between age 18 and 40 years. None of the participants was 

above the age of 40 years. Most of the participants were young couples 

within the age of 18 and 30 years. Age 26 - 30 was the highest with 34.0% 

and followed by age 18-25 with 33%. The result of the survey indicated 

that 35.8% of the respondents were single – children of couples of inter-

religious marriage family. A total of 39.6% of the respondents were 

married and were still living together as husbands and wives. However, 

20.8% had separated and only 4 respondents were recorded as widows.     

Discussion of Findings 

Factors of Inter-Religious Marriage  

Eight item statements were used to investigate the factors that are 

responsible for a Muslim man going into interfaith marriage with a 

Christian woman as contained in Table 2 (See Appendix). It is established 



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from the result that 50% of the respondents agreed that irreligiousness can 

make someone change his or her religion. That is, if the level of someone’s 

involvement in one’s early religion is low, the practice of such a religion, 

generally, will not be part and parcel of such a person’s life. Thus, with 

any minor reason(s), one could easily change his/her religion to join 

another one that appeals to him/her; 33% of the participants strongly 

submitted that irreligiousness could be one of the influencing factors that 

can make a person change his/her religion for another. Of the total 

respondents, 83% were of the view that irreligiousness is a factor capable 

of influencing an adherent to convert to another religion.  

It was also gathered that experiencing a long delay before getting married 

can tempt a man or a woman to convert to another religion if their 

prospective partner presents that as a pre-requisite for agreeing to be their 

spouse. This fact is established from the Table as 61% of the total 

respondents agreed that a long delay in finding a prospective spouse can 

make one to change his or her religion if he or she could not find a partner 

from his or her own religion, and if conversion is made a pre-marital 

condition for the man or woman. 

The item-statement, “lack of sound knowledge of one’s religion leads to 

inter-religious marriage”, was supported by 53.8% of the total respondents 

as 30.2% and 23.6% agreed and strongly agreed to the statement. This can 

be interpreted that many participants affirmed that if one does not possess 

a good knowledge of the doctrines of one’s religion, he/she can take a 

decision outside the dictates of his or her religion at any time.  

A total number of 66 participants, who form 62.2% of the total 

respondents, submitted that Western education neutralises stern decision to 

stick to marrying a Muslim woman as evident from the results depicted in 

Table 2. Thus, it can be generalised that Western education makes some 

Moslem men less discriminating and influences them into marrying 

Christian women. However, 40% of the respondents share the view that 

Western education may not necessarily influence a person to marry 

indiscriminatingly someone with whom one shares different faith. 

From the results it is depicted that 51% of the total respondents attested 

that association with Christian friends can lead to inter-religious marriage 

among the adherents of the two religions. However, 40% of the 

respondents disagreed while 9% stayed neutral to the claim that when one 

associates with people with whom one shares different faith, that does not 

make one to marry from among the adherents of the other faith. In this 

case, we can conclude that a half of the respondents agreed while another 

half of them disagreed with the claim. Therefore, Western education, as an 



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influencing factor that makes one marry from other religious faithful, may 

not be strong enough but can be combined with other factors emanating 

from Western educational institution environment, such as peer group.  

“Nonchalant attitudes of parents in guiding their children towards the 

choice of partner selection leads to inter-religious marriage” recorded 

61.3% support. This implies that the number of those who supported that 

parents’ guide can influence children’s decision are more than those who 

did not see it as significant as only 33% disagreed while 5.7% were neutral 

to the item statement.  

The result exhibits that lack of access to a stable Islamic education by 

Muslim children can lead to inter-religious marriage when they grow up. A 

total of 75.5%, which forms the majority of the total respondents and 

considered very high, agreed that if a child is not given adequate 

knowledge of Islamic education, the tendency for such a child to marry 

any person as a wife is high as he will not consider it as a discouraging act.  

The statement, “Love of money can make me to marry a spouse of 

different faith from mine”, received a high support from the respondents as 

a total of 67% of the respondents are of the opinion that love of money can 

make many people to ignore their faith when it comes to the issue of 

selecting a wife or a husband. Only 24.5% disagreed to the opinion that 

love of money can make them to ignore his/her faith in selecting a wife or 

a husband. This set of people might be the few people who understand the 

hadith of the Prophet that enjoins the Muslims to consider religion first and 

most important and that they should not marry for the sake of money while 

8.5% stood neutral to the opinion. 

From the results exhibited in the Table, three of the eight (8) item-

statements employed to determine the influencing factors towards 

marrying a partner with whom one share different faith have the highest 

percentages of acceptance, as follows: irreligiousness (83%); lack of 

access to a stable Islamic education by Muslim children (75.5%); and love 

of money (67%). This means that these three factors, among others, should 

be strictly and strongly given adequate attention, concern and focus to 

reduce the rate of male Muslims leaving female Muslims to marry non-

Muslims, a practice which, in the long run, leads to children of such 

interfaith marriages taking to their mothers’ religion. In some cases, male 

Muslims – the husbands of non-Moslem wives – even drop Islam for 

Christianity, a situation which is abhorrent in the sight of Allah. 

Effects of Inter-Religious Marriage among Muslim Families  

Table 2 (See Appendix) displays the responses of the respondents to the 



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items designed to measure the effects of inter-religious marriage with 

Christian women among Muslim families in Abeokuta metropolis.  The 

item “they suffer support from in-laws” reflects that 74.5% of the 

respondents confirmed that the couples are deprived the support of their 

parents, particularly those whose parents were against the union. This 

means that family consent and approval of marriage union is very core and 

significant for a well-laid marriage and a stable family life as stated in the 

Qur’an. Allah says “…and marry them with the consent of their 

relatives…” Q4:24.   Only 15.1% disagree that the couple may not suffer 

family support while 10.4% were neutral to the item statement. 

The Table depicts that marriage between persons of different faith may 

end up in divorce. This conclusion is supported by the responses of the 

respondents to the item-statement, “Inter-religious marriage seldom leads 

to separation/divorce”, as 58.5% of the respondents submitted to the 

statement. However, 19.8% disagreed with the statement while 21.7% 

were neutral to the statement. This means that an appreciable number of 

respondents, because they think differently or because of their experiences, 

do not support the statement.   

It is depicted in the Table that interfaith marriage often reduces love 

between the man and the woman as the marriage grows in age. This can 

occur when one of the partners in interfaith marriage reverts to his or her 

at-birth religion or when religious practices, such as festivals, clash or 

when there is a conflict of interest or ideology in relation to the naming of 

a new-born baby. There can also be misunderstanding when a spouse is 

trying to pull the children to his or her religious side. This statement was 

supported by 60.4% of the respondents. However, 24.6% disagreed with 

the statement while 16% were neutral. This means that 40.6% did not 

support the statement. Although this is an appreciable number, the 

percentage of those who supported the statement is significantly higher 

than the percentage of those who did not support it. 

The statement, “Inter-religious marriage begets misunderstanding”, was 

opposed by 24.5% of the respondents while 15.1% were neutral to the 

statement; this means that 39.6% of the respondents did not support the 

claim. Yet, the statement received the support of 60.4% of the respondents, 

thereby establishing the fact that misunderstanding is inevitable when 

partners in marriage do not embrace one faith; arriving at unanimous 

decisions, in religious matters, may be difficult in most cases. Undue 

interference, regarding issues of faith, from family and friends of the 

couple may lead to disagreements between the spouses. 

Struggle over control of the children is another likely effect of inter-



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religious marriage. A total of 67.1% of the respondents agreed that the 

matter of who controls the children is usually a problem in an interfaith 

marriage as each of the two parties would like the children to practise his 

or her religion. Even when the couple practises the same faith, the one who 

conditionally changed his or her faith may not bother if any of the children 

chooses to practise his or her former religion. From this result, it can be 

interpreted that each spouse would struggle to pull the children to his or 

her side. In some cases, the couple may create religious division among the 

children by struggling to win any of the children to his or her own side. I 

have a practical experience of a friend, at Camp, a suburb of Abeokuta 

metropolis, who married a Christian woman. The Christian woman 

retained her religion and that influenced the first born of their three 

children, a male child, to become a Christian while the remaining two 

children, who were female, remained Moslems. A similar situation 

occurred in Osiele, a suburb of Abeokuta metropolis, where the mother 

pulled all the children into Christianity with the exemption of one, the only 

male child of the five children of the family. The result of the survey 

corroborated these experiences. 

Misunderstandings and disagreements between the spouses could generate 

incessant commotion in the family. This statement is supported by the 

result stated in the Table as 35.8% and 33%, which form a total of 68.8% 

of the respondents, agreed and strongly agreed to the statement that inter-

religious marriage can bring about incessant commotions among couples. 

From the Table, three of the six items used to explore the effects of inter-

religious marriage among the couples recorded the highest percentages. “A 

couple of different faiths suffer support from the in-laws” recorded 74.5% 

submission by the respondents and has the highest percentage. This is 

followed by problem of incessant commotions (68.8%) and struggle over 

who wins control over the children (67.1%). This implies that these three 

crises and hurdles are usually confronted by couples from different 

religious background and practices.  As most of the couples do not enjoy 

the support of the in-laws and are usually engaged in misunderstanding 

and commotion, thus, the marriage, sometimes, ends up in separation 

and/or divorce. 

Effects of Inter-religious Marriage on the Children 

As contained in the results, most children from inter-religious families 

often have misunderstanding among themselves. This may lead to 

unnecessary grudges and gossips as there is tendency for one child to 

follow his or her mother while the other follows the father. Since the 

children differ in religious practice, contradictions and differences of 



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opinion cannot be ruled out among them. Looking at the result, 59.4% of 

the respondents affirmed that an inter-religious marriage, where the 

children effectually share different faiths, has the tendency of breeding 

frequent misunderstanding in the family. 

Equal number of respondents agreed and disagreed with the statement that 

inter-religious marriage can reduce love among the children. This is shown 

in their responses to the item-statement which recorded 46.2% (agreed) 

and 46.2% (disagreed). However, 7.5% were neutral which can be grouped 

with those who disagreed, forming 53.7% representing those who 

disagreed with the statement. This means that, even if there occurs some 

misunderstanding among the children, it may not necessarily make them to 

hate themselves as perceived by the 46.2% who agreed with the statement. 

In some cases, the children can face confusion in religion selection. Some 

children can follow their father in his religion while others follow the 

mother. There may be some inconsistency in the choice of the religion the 

children are likely to practise. The result from the Table attests that 65.1 % 

of the respondents submitted that children from inter-religious family 

background face the challenges of religious selection. 

The item-statement “A child who chooses the mother’s religion loses the 

favour and interest of his/her father” was supported by 49.1% while 37.7% 

disagreed with the statement while 13.2% were neutral. This means that it 

is unlikely for the father not to be displeased with any child who refuses to 

practise his religion except the father is a type who is irreligious and 

allows his children to practise any religion of their choice. However, a 

mother might not also be well pleased with any child who does not follow 

her in her religion, particularly if the mother is highly inclined towards her 

at-birth religion and never joined her husband in his religion from the first 

day of their marriage. 

The Table also exhibits that 52.8% of the respondents disagreed with the 

statement, “A child who follows father’s religion may suffer some 

maltreatments from the mother”. However, 35.9% of the respondents 

agreed while 11.3% were neutral. The result reflects a true picture of an 

ideal family in Yorubaland and in Islam while the choice of the father is 

superior in the family. The result takes same direction with the previous 

item-statement, “A child who chooses the mother’s religious loses the 

favour and interest from his father”, which reflects the supremacy of the 

husband over the religious choice of the children in an ideal family. 

Children of inter-religious marriage do suffer some psychological 

problems. Some of them do face problems with regard to choosing 



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between Islam and Christianity.  If a wife does not practise Islam with the 

husband, the children face some maltreatments from either the father or 

mother depending on whose religion they follow. There is often 

misunderstanding among the children as there can be some disagreements 

on issues that have to do with religious rituals. 

Effects of Inter-religious Marriage on Muslim ’Ummah 

The results on the effects of inter-religious marriage between male 

Muslims and female Christians on the Muslim ’ummah reveal that 

Muslims lose most of their children to Christianity. The item recorded 

81.1% support of the respondents. Only 4.7% disagreed while 14.2 were 

neutral to the statement. This reveals that most of the children from the 

Muslim families whose mothers or wives are Christians by birth are 

diverted to the religion of the mothers – Christianity. This might be as a 

result of the weaknesses of most Muslim husbands who fail to give strong 

religious practice background to the children at their childhood or as their 

neglect of the children to a total care of their mothers or a result of the 

death of the husbands before the children are mature to choose for 

themselves or decide on their own. 

The Table also shows that 62.3% of the respondents agreed that most 

Muslims who marry Christians as wives often convert to Christianity. 

Only 19.8% disagreed with the statement while 17.9% were neutral. This 

might be as a result of the high level of irreligiousness of many Muslim 

men who out of their irreligiousness fall into marrying Christian wives and 

afterwards, instead of defending his religion and preaching it to the wives, 

they fall out of Islam to join Christianity.   

It is also observed from the findings that most Christians who marry 

Muslim husbands stick to Christianity and fail to practise Islam with their 

husbands. The objective of Sharī‘ah which considers marrying non-

Muslim wives as a form of jihād with the aim of converting the wives to 

Islam is defeated. This was confirmed from the responses of the 

respondents from the Table as 51% agreed to the statement, “Most 

Christians who marry Muslim husbands often retain their Christianity”. 

Only 28.3 disagreed to the statement while 20.8% were neutral.  

Muslim ’ummah is at a great disadvantage engaging in inter-religious 

marriage with Christian women. The ’ummah loses most of the children 

from this marriage to Christianity. Most of the wives do not really join 

Islam with their husbands and even many of the husbands, instead of 

winning the wives into Islam, it is them who are won into Christianity. 

 



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40 
 

Conclusion  

Though Islam permits Muslims to marry Christian women, it is found out 

that Muslims and Muslim ’ummah are usually at disadvantage engaging in 

inter-religious marriage with Christian women as enough Islamic 

education are not provided for the Muslim children right from their 

childhood to their adulthood, thus, they are simply carried away from their 

religion by Christian women who equally seize the control of the children. 

Muslim clerics have been resolute in the discharge of their obligations in 

guiding their congregants (parents and children) religiously and in 

equipping them with strong Islamic ‘aqīdah. Following the results from 

this study, in order to reduce the involvement of Muslim men in marrying 

Christian women and to achieve the reason why some men go into it as an 

act of jihād aimed at making the wives and the children to practice Islam, 

the following are suggested: 

1. Inter-religious marriage with Christian women should be 

discouraged for Muslim men. 

2. Muslim parents should give their children adequate Arabic and 

Islamic education through which they would have more knowledge 

about their religion. 

3. Islamic organisations should establish marital counselling centres 

where Muslim singles will be orientated prior to marriage. 

4. Muslim parents can support their children in searching for 

prospective partners. 

 

 

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Author Information: Dr Waheed Adeyemi Situ is an Adjunct 

Lecturer, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, 

Federal College of Education Campus, Abeokuta, Ogun State, 

Nigeria. Email: adewaheed10@gmail.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


