Inter Religious Marriages

M. Husni Mubarok ( 031104114) /II D

Inter Religious Marriages

Interfaith marriage has become trend in the some countries. We can find it in some countries like in U.S.A, Singapore, Tibet, and also in Indonesia. It traditionally (especially in the Catholic Church) called mixed marriage, is marriage (either religious or civil) between partners professing different religions. Some religions prohibit interfaith marriage, and while others do allow it, most restrict it. Some Indonesian artists also do it like Jamal Mirdad- Lidya Kandau, Mayong Laksono-Nurul Arifin, Ari Sigit-Rica Callebut, Jeremy Thomas-Ina Indrayati, Frans Lingua-Amara, Henry Siahaan-Yuni Sara, and Ari Sihasale-Nia Zulkarnain.

               The Civil Registry Office's position on the matter is based on first verse of Marriage Law No.1/1974, which states that marriage is valid if conducted according to the religions and beliefs of the prospective bride and groom. Therefore, a marriage must first be authorized by religion before it can be registered with the Civil Registry Office. According to Presidential Decree No.12/1983, the Civil Registry Office is only authorized to register non-Muslim marriages. Consequently, many inter-religious couples are unable to formally register their marriages at the Civil Registry Office. Some couples attempt to sneak past this law by pretending to profess their partner's faith in order to legally register. Others are forced to maintain de-facto relationships or to marry overseas, such as in Singapore. 

Islam only allows a man to marry a non-Muslim if she is Christian (specifically Greek Orthodox) or Jewish. The wife need not adopt any Muslim laws, and the husband is not allowed to keep her from going to church or synagogue. The early jurists of the most prominent schools of Islamic jurisprudence ruled in fiqh law that the marriage of a Muslim man to a Christian or Jewish women is makruh (reprehensible) if they live in a non-Muslim country. The Caliph Umar (634–644) denied interfaith marriage for Muslim men during his command of the ummah.

Fiqh also forbids Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men, although there is nothing in the Quran nor the Sunnah (sharia) that explicitly prohibits such unions. Some Muslim scholars (ahli kitab) go so far as to state that such a marriage is an act of apostasy, but with the growing number of such marriages, this position is being questioned. In some Muslim countries, if a non-Muslim woman is married to a non-Muslim, and she converts to Islam, the marriage is suspended until her husband converts to Islam. When he converts a new marriage is not needed.

Although fiqh forbids Muslim women's marriage with non-Muslim men, there are lots of Muslimah who have married men who follow other religions. These cases are mainly observed in Balkan peninsular and West of Turkey, West Europe, East Asia, and sometimes in Syria or Lebanon. They are also becoming more common in the West.

In conclusion, Inter Religious Marriages is forbidden because it is not recognized by the government in Indonesia and also for Moslems but according to Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have to appreciate the people who love each other although they are different religion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interreligious_marriage feb,4, 08, 09:50 

http://www.expat.or.id/info/interreligiousmarriages.html feb,4, 08, 09:50