Jewish Mom and Muslim Father?

Amica

Amica

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:) Salaam and Shalom (Peace) to all!

What would the child be if the father is Muslim and mother Jewish? Hypothetical question.

I ask, because I know that Islam defines a child's religion based on the father, while in Judaism the child is of mother's religion. I am not sure if Jewish women are allowed to marry outside of their faith, but Muslim men are allowed to marry believing Jewish women.

Provided that both would believe in One, True G!d/Allah SWT, no question the child would be raised to be monotheist.

Just curious of your thoughts.
 
Jewish women are allowed to marry outside the faith. They may be excluded from the strictest Orthodox communities but elsewhere in the U.S. it's a pretty common occurrence.

I think the identity of your hypothetical child would depend on how the parents planned to raise him/her and eventually what the child decided for him/herself. Interfaith couples can raise their children one or the other, neither or both. They can give them a single religious identity but celebrate the other parent's holidays as a family tradition. Many synagogues are open to such families joining; some, even if it's the father who is Jewish. Not the orthodox, though.

However, most rabbis would not marry such a couple unless they planned to raise the children as Jews.
 
I know of more than one interfaith marriage, where one spouse ended up forbidding the other spouse to discuss religion with the child, and demanded the child be raised in only one faith.

"...most rabbis would not marry such a couple unless they planned to raise the children as Jews."

--> Any non-Jew who rejects such an idea should never allow such a rabbi to perform their wedding.
 
Amica said:
:) Salaam and Shalom (Peace) to all!

What would the child be if the father is Muslim and mother Jewish?
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A Muslim Father and Jewish Mother?????? Holy....

What would the child be? My immediate thought is, 'vaporized within the mushroom cloud caused by the parental-atomic-explosion.'

I mean. Seriously. That one is a perfect contender for reality TV.
 
Yes, interfaith marriages happen all the time. And no, they are not well thought-out. Yes, Muslim-Jewish sounds very conflicted, but one of the most troubled marriages I ever saw was a Christian woman and a Buddhist man.

One of the biggest questions these people must answer is, "Which religion will our children be raised in?" Most interfaith couples do not consider this question before marriage, which often leads to a disaster.
 
Nick the Pilot said:
Most interfaith couples do not consider this question before marriage, which often leads to a disaster.
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Generally speaking it's been my experience that just about all belief systems, including non-spiritual ones, are quite hostile to Christianity. It would be a difficult task indeed, to raise a child in an interfaith marriage where one is Christian and the other is [fill in the blank], and do so harmoniously. The Christian parent, depending on how passionate his/her faith is, may allow the child to venture outside of the bible to learn about some things. But the non-Christian in the marriage, more times than not, will be disgusted at the thought of the child being raised Christian. And then you've got major problems.
 
Frosty,

I agree. Christianity does not allow a child to be 'raised in an interfaith marriage.' According to Christianity, if the child ends up following the other parent's religion, the child will go to hell. No if's, and's, or buts.
 
Frrostedman: Muslim-Jewish marriage would sure be one for a reality TV show ;). I can see everyone tune in to see if there would be another "Israeli-Palestinian" conflict shown, obviously in a mini format.

On the serious note :): I have seen Christian-Muslim marriage as it is a common place in my homeland Bosnia. Regardless if the man or woman in the marriage are Muslim, a very high percentage of the children are raised atheist (and the parents become that too in a lot of cases) or Christian. Hardly ever Muslim. And, by many Bosnians' definitian being a "Muslim" does not mean practicing the faith (sadly). The interfaith marriages appear more tolerant of others and seek unity as long as there is a democratic approach to the faith matters (with "Muslim" parent being rather indifferent about the way child is raised).

Regarding Muslim-Jewish marriage, I have not seen it first hand. I can see how both parents would learn to live together in both their faiths since both Judaism and Islam teach: circumcision, dietary restrictions, Biblical prophets pbut, One G!d/Allah SWT, regular prayers, etc. To me, if both parents are religious, not much conflict would arise in terms of religious practices as opposed to have a Muslim marrying someone else besides a Jewish woman. I really think that Muslim-Jewish marriage might actually survive.

Marrying a religious Christian woman might be a different matter since the concepts about God are different and I can see how a religious Muslim man would have an issue with that and vice versa.
 
Frrostedman said:
Generally speaking it's been my experience that just about all belief systems, including non-spiritual ones, are quite hostile to Christianity. It would be a difficult task indeed, to raise a child in an interfaith marriage where one is Christian and the other is [fill in the blank], and do so harmoniously. The Christian parent, depending on how passionate his/her faith is, may allow the child to venture outside of the bible to learn about some things. But the non-Christian in the marriage, more times than not, will be disgusted at the thought of the child being raised Christian. And then you've got major problems.
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I'm a Christian man married to a Hindu woman. It has been my experience that Hindus are very tolerant and accepting of the Christian faith.

I'm also a Christian pastor and preside over a Hindu Temple. I find Christian and Hindu teachings to be very compatible.
 
There was a reality show on TLC a few years back called All American Muslim. One of the women was married to a Christian. The marriage seemed to be going fine until she had trouble conceiving and decided that she was being punished by God for not being observant enough. I don't know how things turned out as I didn't watch the whole thing. It didn't look good for them, though.

One Jewish/Muslim marriage that appears so far to be "so-far-so-good" is between former Congressman, Anthony Weiner and Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abedin. In spite of the sexting scandal which forced Weiner to resign from Congress, they are still married and have a son who they named, Jordan Zain Weiner. Their interfaith wedding was officiated by Bill Clinton. How they are raising Jordan religiously is not publically known.

I suspect interfaith marriages work best when one or both spouses are not very religious, their families supportive, and the community not hostile. Middle East politics would be one extra hurdle that a Muslim/Jewish couple would have to overcome.
 
Nick the Pilot said:
Frosty,

I agree. Christianity does not allow a child to be 'raised in an interfaith marriage.' According to Christianity, if the child ends up following the other parent's religion, the child will go to hell. No if's, and's, or buts.
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That may be an old fundamentalist notion or perhaps the thinking in the Bible Belt, but that's hardly the case for all Christians Nick.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
I'm a Christian man married to a Hindu woman. It has been my experience that Hindus are very tolerant and accepting of the Christian faith.

I'm also a Christian pastor and preside over a Hindu Temple. I find Christian and Hindu teachings to be very compatible.
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Apparently Jewish/Hindu marriages are so common in my area that there is a Hindu wedding house which specializes in hosting these interfaith weddings.
 
Marcialou said:
There was a reality show on TLC a few years back called All American Muslim. One of the women was married to a Christian. The marriage seemed to be going fine until she had trouble conceiving and decided that she was being punished by God for not being observant enough. I don't know how things turned out as I didn't watch the whole thing. It didn't look good for them, though.

One Jewish/Muslim marriage that appears so far to be "so-far-so-good" is between former Congressman, Anthony Weiner and Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abedin. In spite of the sexting scandal which forced Weiner to resign from Congress, they are still married and have a son who they named, Jordan Zain Weiner. Their interfaith wedding was officiated by Bill Clinton. How they are raising Jordan religiously is not publically known.

I suspect interfaith marriages work best when one or both spouses are not very religious, their families supportive, and the community not hostile. Middle East politics would be one extra hurdle that a Muslim/Jewish couple would have to overcome.
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Admittedly, I haven't had much exposure to the Muslim faith, but I do know of one Jewish/Muslim couple in my area. The man is a Jewish American and his wife is Muslim and of Hispanic origin. I believe she herself was the product of a mixed marriage, Muslim/Christian. Their son is friends with my Grand Nephew. His name is, Mohamed Rodriguez Epstein... no joke!
 
Getting back to the original question, I think a lot would depend on how religious and how open-minded the parents are, and what sort of society the children are raised in.

Ideally, the children would be proud of both heritages, and worship or not worship as they choose.
 
Marcialou said:
I suspect interfaith marriages work best when one or both spouses are not very religious, their families supportive, and the community not hostile. Middle East politics would be one extra hurdle that a Muslim/Jewish couple would have to overcome.
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Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

:)

Well said.
 
Frrostedman said:
Generally speaking it's been my experience that just about all belief systems, including non-spiritual ones, are quite hostile to Christianity. It would be a difficult task indeed, to raise a child in an interfaith marriage where one is Christian and the other is [fill in the blank], and do so harmoniously. The Christian parent, depending on how passionate his/her faith is, may allow the child to venture outside of the bible to learn about some things. But the non-Christian in the marriage, more times than not, will be disgusted at the thought of the child being raised Christian. And then you've got major problems.
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why does anyone have to be taught religion?
I was not and found it when I was ready.
religion cant be taught anyway, it has to come from the heart.
 
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