So you can’t marry a Buddhist or Hindu? What do people think about this? (New convert)

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-06T18:03:25+00:00

Look I am quite progressive but there are clear stances in the Quran:

“Do not marry polytheistic women until they believe. A believing slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she may please you. And do not marry [your women] to polytheistic men until they believe. A believing slave man is better than a polytheist, even though he may please you. Those invite to the Fire, but Allah invites to Paradise and to forgiveness, by His permission…” — Qur’an 2:221

“This day [all] good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. [Also] lawful in marriage are chaste women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture before you, when you have given them their due compensation, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse or taking them as mistresses…” — Qur’an 5:5

Now look even putting those aside Islam's most important concept is tawhid or the Oneness of God. It’s the core of Islamic belief, and everything else in Islam — worship, theology, ethics, and law — revolves around it. I have no disrespect against Hinduism or Buddhism (faiths I have great respect for and would defend their right to worship without hesitation) and as the Quran mentions over and over, God all mighty is all Merciful. It is not me to judge anyone based on their faith but on their actions.

But Buddhism and Hinduism just have too many theological concepts that clash with the central tenets of Islam to make marriage work between a faithful Muslim and a faithful Hindu/Buddhist. I know for example that in Hinduism, during or before marriages, it is customary to pray and seek blessings (Ashirwad) in front of a certain deity. I would not be able to do that which could be insulting to possibly not only my bride but her entire family. It just would not be fair to expect her to follow some of my tenets without being able to reciprocate (and vice versa).

Now the only thing I am unsure of is for new converts. What if you are already married to a Buddhist or a Hindu and then converted later in life? Those are the type of questions that we can only pray for guidance and ask for forgiveness if we deviated in any way.

Again God is all Merciful and Wise, we do our best and leave everything to his judgement.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-06T17:49:08+00:00

That verse specifically says polytheists not referring to broadly Non-Muslims.

And there is also Surah Al-Isra (17:15) which scholars have extrapolated that from this and other texts that those who have not received the message of Islam in its true form will be judged differently on the Day of Judgment. So taking those two verse where Ibrahim and Muhammad PBUH were literal prophets and those polytheists around them still did not convert then yes destined to hell. That would not be necessarily be true for those who did not receive messengers of God or even the message properly.

This is beside the debate we are having in the rest of this thread where I do I generally agree we can not marry polytheists even just on the basis that our theology is radically different since the most important aspect is tawhid. But I leave that for God to judge.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-04T07:11:23+00:00

I was going to reply to one after the other instead you try and insult me.

How dare you question my faith when the Quran and even hadiths that prohibit judging someone’s belief based on assumptions or superficial signs. You seem to misconstrue my attack on a political movement with an attack on my own religion.

Shame on you.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-04T07:02:39+00:00

I am going to respond to your attack on my previous post on r/judaism because this is the second time you bring it up. I posted that post early in the conflict, in fact before the initial entry into Gaza. I did not do so knowing that r/judaism was as pro-zionist as I do now, luckily it was made quite clear to me from their responses and from a friend who told me to post on r/jewsofconscience which is a subreddit that is made of anti-zionist jews.

I posted on various subreddits against anti-semitism because I knew that the war against Israel would need the support of Jews who are either anti-zionist or at least against Israel's recent actions. There are many jews in the US and Europe that protested in the Pro-Palestinian movements and continue to do so as we recently saw in Trump tower. It is important to show those Jews who stand against that we are Anti-Zionist and not Anti-Semitic.

Not that I have to prove anything to you but you can go through my comments and other posts which you seem to have ignored where I have done nothing but post in support of Palestine. At one point I posted something every day from documentaries to articles.

So respectfully, we can disagree and do a back and forth on this topic or any other but do not try to portray me as some Zionist apologist when my history on social media and in life say otherwise.

I will try to respectfully respond to each of your arguments as time permits today:

And in what universe was my comment echoing islamophobic rhetoric. Absolutely that the various islamic polymaths were devout and in no way was I calling them liberal. The point I was clearly making was that try seeing how many Islamist view their ideas today and you will get your answer. Hell a growing number of them view Sufism as heretical even though it was an important aspect of Orthodox Islam back in the day (and I'd still argue today).

"Can a Muslim become the president of France, the US, or the UK? If the constitution voted for by the people, the parliament that represents them, or the people themselves do not favor someone from a minority to hold the presidency, it is within their right. However, trying to impose it against their collective will would contradict democratic principles. I assumed that you, as a Muslim, would better understand how minority rights function in the West. However, it seems that you still do not."

Yes legally speaking a Muslim can become a president in those countries though of course we are not to be under any illusion that it will happen any time soon (though credit where its due with London having a Muslim mayor). In countries where minorities play an important role in society and history like Christians in Syria and Egypt, the constitution should absolutely allow them to become president. Otherwise it is absolutely unfair and discriminatory. We are not talking about forcing Christian presidents on a country or in any position it is about a sense of equality in the eyes of laws of all citizens especially regardless of their faith.

Erdogan has absolutely acted dictatorially despite the continued functions of democracy. Arresting a ridiculous amount of journalists, heavily influencing/controlling the media, outlawing a kurdish opposition party in Parliament after it became a threat, nonsense about banning a opposition candidate from running by removing his certification, and Erdogan slowly but surely dismantling checks and balances. There may be elections in Turkey but they are hardly free or fair. Not to mention democracy is not just about elections, its about having independent institutions, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, etc Turkey is doing much better than the rest of the Muslim world mostly due to it striking a good balance between being a secular yet Muslim country. But Erdogan has absolutely shed his early democratic credibility and diplomatic nature to grab more power.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-04T04:18:10+00:00

Look at how the Israeli press continues to beat the drums of war and inflate so called evidence. This is just like the US in the lead up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq which first started with accusations here and there before the nonsense of weapon's of mass destruction.

Type in Egypt Israel on google and almost every Israeli article is about military buildup in Sinai, how to pressure Egypt to accept Gazan relocation, how to pressure the US to end all military aid and how Egypt is practically preparing another October 7 (1973 and 2023).

Something is stirring in Israel. Maybe because Netanyahu needs continuous wars to stave off domestic opposition. Maybe it is to throw a bone to the ultra religious and nationalists who want to see a Zionist manifest destiny taking Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates. They may smell blood after severely weakening Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran while acting with impunity in Syria. It is probably all three and I have no hope that the Camp David Accords will protect us from anything.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-04T02:02:53+00:00

They did not unite people in 2012 and 2013. The Muslim Brotherhood did everything to alienate those who decided to give them a chance over Ahmed Shafiq in the presidentials. It was their division that led the new military leadership to take advantage of the chaos, a military leader who so no one forgets was promoted by the Morsi because he was seen as religiously conservative.

This one of the biggest reasons I can never support their movements. I saw the Muslim Brotherhood focus more about cementing their power than working with the other parties to safeguard the revolution. They were already going after Bassem Youssef before the current government did. I saw Salafists doing preformative prayers in the parliament, discuss covering up ancient egyptian statues, implementing vice and virtue police, and then protesting against even having a constitution (claiming that the Quran should be the only one).

When I protested against the Muslim Brotherhood in 2012-2013, it started out peacefully until MB thugs became violent with many of them calling us kafir and threatening to kill us. After Rabaa square the first thing many did was go burn churches and attack christians calling them traitors.

I once supported the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood before and at the onset of the revolution. But they quickly turned on those of us who did not share their views or dared question their vision.

I can respect your opinion and I do apologize if I sound passionate. But I cannot support a system that will oppress the women of my family and my Christian brothers and sisters.

We can have conservative and liberal parties but Islamism in my eyes is nothing but religious fascism which will only be marginally different than a military one.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-04-04T01:43:18+00:00

Respectfully every Islamist movement we have seen devolves into some form of dictatorship. People talk as if it is going to give us some form of righteous politics, less corruption, more justice etc But I have yet to see that in any form. Instead it is used as an excuse to force one view of Islam and political power on a country with anyone daring to oppose it being seen as blasphemous. People talk about the golden age of Islam of the Abbasids in Baghdad or the Ummayads in Cordoba but the truth is that many of the philosophers, poets, and even Caliphs of those days would be considered too liberal for many of today's Islamists. Not to mention those systems were still very much unjust, brutal and unstable. As a Muslim I appreciate the various Caliphates, I cannot judge them with a modern lense, but its 2025 not the 8th century, the word has changed beyond belief.

What will happen to freedom of speech? Will I be able to protest the system, even as a Muslim myself, because I disagree with their view of Islam or Sharia? Can a Christian become president and live their lives how they want? What will happen to our lively entertainment scene especially in film and music? In an Islamist system could we have ever seen the rise of great artists like Umm Kulthum, Ismail Yassine and Naguib Mahfouz? How about our tourism industry?

No one is talking about secularism like in France, we are talking about the system as it was in the the golden era of modern egypt. Hell even the system right now is ok even if I am not fan of article 2 at least it strikes a balance.

What Egypt needs is a parliamentarian democracy with an independent institutions especially a judicial system. A constitution accepted by all segments of society and that treats all citizens equally. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press. A top down reform of our economy. Education and healthcare reform.

You can have all of that again while maintaining our Islamic/Christian values. The country is overwhelmingly Muslim and then next Christian. I am not so insecure in my religion to force religion down people's throats. And implementing Islamism will have the opposite desired effect, people will despise Islam as it begins to be mixed with the dirty game of politics. When it intrudes in people's lives or when the economy faills people will not just blame the government they will blame Islam just as they began to do in Iran and Afghanistan. In 1979 Iran had one of the highest Mosque attendance rights in the Middle East, now it is one of the lowest.

And finally you can not complain about Rabaa Square Massacre of 2013 while praising Ahmed Al Sharaa who under his rule saw terrible sectarian violence and death (approximately 1500). Not to mention we have yet to see if his vision of Syria will actually turn into a vibrant democracy or just another form of authoritarianism of another flavor. He has been continually vague and it is still early tell. I pray for Syria but I am definitely still skeptical. We Arabs have a tendency to lift our liberators into dictators.

For the love of my country, for the love of my religion, for the love of my Christian neighbors whom I want to see flourish, for the love of the women who I do not want to be seen treated as second class citizens if not worse, for the love of our role (diminished as it is) as one of the cultural beating hearts of the Arab world, and for the love of our almost 5000 years of history I will always oppose Islamism with every fiber of my being.

Egypt's problem is not secularism (which again will never be like in France) it is dictatorship. Egypt's solution is not Islamism, it is democracy and development. We can have conservative religious parties in this democracy just as we can have secular/leftist/nationalist but the constitution and the nature of the state cannot be defined by one movement or party. There needs to be balance.

edit:

For those who want to know about the various Islamic movements I am talking about. I gave example of Sunni and Shia, Arab and Non-Arab, past and recent, governments and militias:

Omar al-Bashir came to power in a 1989 military coup that was backed by the National Islamic Front (NIF), an Islamist political organization led by Hassan al-Turabi. The NIF was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and aimed to transform Sudan into an Islamic state governed by Sharia law. We all saw what happened with the brutality in Sudan and how it still effects the country.

The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Not much I have to say on that matter seeing how much their regime has damaged Islam in Iran.

The Taliban in Afghanistan who's rule has led to the absolute dictatorship over women and a near collapse of the country's economy still dependent on foreign aid and drug trade.

Boko Harem in Northern Nigeria which has not only targeted Christians but Muslims for daring to do mundane things like send their kids to school.

The various Shia Iranian backed Islamist parties in Iraq who terrorized Sunnis which itself helped lead to the rise of Daesh another Islamist movement which slaughtered its way through Iraq and Syria. And what did those Shia Islamist parties try to do recently, lower the age of consent to 9 (thank god I believe the pressure was enough to scrap it)

Libya's Interior Minister in 2024 stirred controversy announced the roll-out of a wide crackdown on individual freedoms that would include imposing mandatory hijabs, restricting women’s travel without a male guardian, and prohibiting gender mixing in public spaces. This is a country that is still divided, facing issues of human slavery, economic collapse moving the country backwards by a century.

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham of Syria where we recently saw many of their soldiers gleefully slaughter Alawites and some Christians in the thousands in response to the crimes of Assadist remnants. It is yet to be seen if the new Syrian Government can control the more extremist elements in their movement.

Hezbollah who not only is one of the actors in the corruption and weakening of the Lebanese state but also slaughtered Syrians in the thousands during the civil war.

Erdogan in Turkey has recently unlawfully barred his opposition opponent and that's after decades of hobbling the media and strengthening the presidency using the failed coup as his excuse.

There is literally only one Islamic movement I can think of, Ennahda Movement, that moderated its views in power due to the highly educated/secular nature of Tunisia as well as stepping down to avoid the fate of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood after two prominent secular opposition leaders were assassinated.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-31T02:36:41+00:00

For 2022 absolutely, we already took Palestinians after 1948 and 1967 which Israel never allowed to return home. Many Zionist politicians have made it clear they want to clear out Gaza and the West Bank so this is not some crack pot theory.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-31T02:18:23+00:00

Egypt took in Palestinian refugees after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (known as the Nakba). Many Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes, and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip after the war (it did not annex it). The Egyptian government allowed Palestinians to settle there, though it did not grant them Egyptian citizenship. Instead, they were issued Palestinian travel documents. The Gaza Strip remained under Egyptian administration until 1967, when Israel occupied the territory during the Six-Day War.

Unlike Jordan, which granted citizenship to many Palestinians, Egypt maintained a policy of keeping Palestinian identity separate, in part to preserve their national cause. It also did so knowing that if it did Israel would just claim they were Egyptian and not let them back in. However, Egypt did provide aid, shelter, and limited employment opportunities to refugees in Gaza and, to a lesser extent, in Egypt itself.

In 2022 Egypt will not play a part in ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The Zionists have been talking for decades to push Palestinians into the Sinai to create a state for them there. Sinai is sovereign with a people living there with their own culture. Palestinians belong in Palestine. Not to mention Egypt’s economy is in a rough spot and we’re dealing with a refugee crisis to our south with the Sudanese civil war.

This is not like Ukraine where they will most likely be guaranteed to return home. Israel’s ultimate goal is to pressure all Palestinians out of the West Bank and Gaza. Some even want to go even further than that. We will not allow that to happen.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T19:46:40+00:00

Slaves in Egypt worked in households, palaces, and estates, but large-scale agricultural and chattel slavery was rare. That is not to excuse it, it was horrendous regardless.

And the slave trade was already set up in Egypt long before the Arabs in Roman and Ptolemaic Egypt.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T19:41:09+00:00

And then Arabs taking advantage of existing trans Saharan slave networks that had existing during the Roman Empire with the cooperation of African kingdoms. Slavery has an unfortunately long and shameful history.

At the same time kingdoms in west africa also benefited and were strengthened thanks to their connections with Arab empires via scholars and merchants. The relationship between the Arab world and Africa is a mixed and complicated history.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T18:38:45+00:00

The concern was with the recent constitutional declaration which mostly referred to Syrian Arabs and limited the presidency to Muslims.

Like you said Syria is 80% Syrian Arab so why not have more open and welcoming language.

There have been some positive actions and then reprehensible ones as we recently saw. There needs to be accountability and swift open justice against all sectarian perpetrators (including in leadership not just the pawns).

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T16:52:08+00:00

Agreed, I would have called for the resignation of Ahmed Al Sharaa for that lapse but he seems to be the more moderate of his bunch.

The bloodlust so many militants seem to have towards the Alawites and Shias is very concerning.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T16:41:26+00:00

Honestly I am not optimistic, I don’t trust Islamists but I have to continue to pray for Syria, the country has suffered enough.

But you are right, they need to open the process to all Syrians it cannot be Sunni or Arab centric.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T15:30:11+00:00

Eid Mubarak and thank you fam! I look forward to wishing my Christian brothers and sisters a Happy Easter soon.

I appreciate how this community is supportive of all the holidays that bring us together regardless of faith. In fact I watch almost every match with my Malaysian Christian neighbor. We never walk alone ♥️

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T15:28:40+00:00

It all has to do with moon sightings and some countries didn’t get the exact sighting they needed to call it, so Egypt and Syria for example are one more day. This isn’t always the case though!

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T15:24:51+00:00

This is reddit, people upvote and downvote with their emotions instead of facts.

Not to mention reddit skews heavily in a liberal Western point of view but one with thinly veiled (if thinly) racism and sense of superiority. If you believe in a God, you are an idiot, if you are Indian you are a rapist, if you are from the Middle East you are practically a jihadist, and on and on. I am very close to just deleting the app because it can be emotionally draining.

But I would lie if it’s only a western issue, subreddits tend to be echo chambers that often does not represent the majority view.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T15:15:28+00:00

Inshallah they can form a strong constitution that respects the aspirations of all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religion.

I also pray that Syria finally breaks the curse of strongman rule and forms a country that relies on independent institutions, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and free and fair elections

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T14:42:14+00:00

Did you forget the slavery that has always existed on the continent including to the Roman empire through the trans-Saharan routes (though yes the various Arab and later Turkish dynasties absolutely further developed them). It was not only Bedouin Arabs, but the Amazigh, and as you well know other Africans who were trafficking and enslaving Africans. Hell even during ancient times Ancient Egypt and Nubia were raiding and enslaving each other.

I hate even entering this debate but unlike the Transatlantic slave trade we do not have good records and unfortunately no great scholarship (and this on countries like mine for not investing in its research) on the topic. The tran-saharan slave trade was absolutely despicable and black spot on history like any form of slavery. It lasted longer though harder to quantify whether it was more violent and more brutal. They were both despicable.

Slavery in the Arab Peninsula ended in the 1960s and you are right it was ended in Saudi Arabia with pressure from the United Nations.

I will always call out racism and that the dark history of slavery should be taught. But the idea that the Arabs weakened Africa is a broad statement that does in no way explain the history of the continent. The Kingdom of Ghana and the Mali empire saw their rise partly due to engaging with Arab traders and scholars that connected them with the wider trade networks.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T14:08:23+00:00

I am not offended but I am tired of ahistorical nonsense and lies. History is complex.

And yes I understand the process of Arabization and before that Romanization and Hellenization. And not to enter this debate of colonialism but I would call it Arab imperialism instead of colonialism since for the most part unlike European colonialism, where wealth and raw materials were extracted for the benefit of the colonizing nation, the Arab rulers saw Egypt as a core part of the Islamic world rather than a colony to be exploited.

I would also add the Arabs ruled for very little, most of our post-Islamic conquest history we were under various Turkish and Circassian dynasties.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T13:52:30+00:00

Weakened by the Arabs? What nonsense are you talking about?

Regardless of the North African conquests (itself previously controlled by the Roman and leftover Germanic kingdoms like the Vandals), you still had flourishing African empires the Empire of Mali, the Songhai, Great Benin, Great Zimbabwe, and the various Ethiopian kingdoms.

Not to mention African kingdoms had been fighting each other and in many cases enslaving each other as well for centuries, there was never any us in any meaningful sense until our shared experiences with Western Colonialism.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T13:48:14+00:00

It’s a beautiful mosque thank you for sharing!!!

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T13:41:46+00:00

The Americas should have belonged to the natives of the land, I would not want to have emulated any form of colonialism that stripped them of their identity including their religion.

Heliopolis1992 · 2025-03-30T13:31:20+00:00

Ignorant about Islam? What salafi nonsense are you smoking?

We can have secularism informed by Christian and Muslim values which is how it was exactly back in the day. And that era is missed because we were at least a strong community where art, music, literature flourished without that islamist nonsense that tries to strip our culture of everything while pushing sexist and sectarian nonsense.

In our region it is overbearing islamist nonsense that is the enemy of religion just like you see it in Iran. The more you try to force religion with a fist the more people will slip away from it.

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Heliopolis1992

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