Prohibition of Interfaith Marriage

This artwork portrays a couple holding hands, a Muslim woman and a Christian man, being separated by the symbols of their religious beliefs. Under Islamic law, regardless of the school of thought, Muslim women may not marry non-Muslim men, while Muslim men may only marry non-Muslim women who meet the definition of Kitabia or “people of the book,” which typically refers to followers of Christianity and Judaism. There are 29 countries, plus the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, that prohibit marriages between people of two different religions. In the majority of these countries, the prohibition of interfaith marriage arises from the implementation of Islamic personal status laws, either in codified or uncodified form, with respect to marriages involving Muslims. These countries either do not have separate civil marriage laws or do not allow Muslim individuals to marry under such laws. Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Djibouti, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza Yemen