Russian muftis banned Muslims from marrying women of other faiths - Orthodox Christians were not against it
The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation issued a theological conclusion according to which Muslims should not marry representatives of other religions.
The conclusion was published on the official website of the Russian Muslim Spiritual Board, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Unity and similarity of spouses in matters of religion and spirituality is the most important condition for their happy life together. Taking this into account, the Council of Ulema of the Muslim Spiritual Board of the Russian Federation decided that interfaith marriages, in particular with representatives of the People of the Book (Christians and Jews - ed.), are unacceptable on the territory of the Russian Federation and are possible only in certain isolated cases by decision of the local mufti, who considers and accepts attention to all the circumstances of this particular case.
If a girl recognizes the existence of One Single God, accepts Jesus and Muhammad as God’s messengers and expresses her readiness to follow the instructions of the Holy Quran, then she has the right to marry a Muslim,” the conclusion says.
The Russian Orthodox Church received the Muslim initiative positively.
“Now we have become soft, like melted ice cream. Perhaps we should also do the same with the marriage issue, return to severity and firmness. Why not? At least, it’s worth thinking about,” Archpriest Andrei Tkachev said in an interview with Gazeta.ru.
Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, who was banned from ministry, also agrees that Orthodox Christians should treat interfaith marriages with caution.
“In modern society, other identities are important for young people, not national-religious ones. And when a Russian girl meets a guy from Tatarstan or Chechnya, they are in a university party, and it is more important for them that they study at the university together. But 20 years pass, a midlife crisis begins, thoughts appear - who am I, what is my identity, besides professional.
Relationships with parents become different. And this Russian woman suddenly finds herself in a completely different cultural situation. Until recently, her husband boasted to his friends that he had a Russian wife from Moscow, but now he is ashamed of this, “she doesn’t know our rules.” And the pressure begins to be put on her. And youth is long behind us,” Kuraev pointed out on NSN.
But the liberal views of the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, Oksana Pushkina, who previously pushed through bills related to juvenile justice, spoke out against the decision of the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims.
In an interview with the radio station “Moscow Speaks,” she noted that such a conclusion supposedly divides peoples, sows discord and creates religious contradictions.
“Love knows no race, no nationality, no religion. It can arise between people of very different origins. But it is love that underlies any strong marriage; only in love do happy children grow up, capable of full self-realization in the future. Therefore, marriages between representatives of different religions strengthen interfaith peace in the country; banning them means dividing loving hearts, families and society,” Pushkina ranted on the radio station “Moscow Speaks.”
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.