Works of Abul Baraa Muhamad Amreeki

All the praises is for Allah the Lord of the Worlds and peace and blessings be upon His Chosen Messenger Muhammad and upon his family and his companions all of them.

By the Student of Knowledge, Shaykh Abdurrahman Murad هداه الله 

First Question:

Regarding marrying a Christian women who is name-sake…would it be easier to marry a name-sake Christian and covert her?

Answer:

It would be best that you marry a Muslim sister and save yourself the headache and heart-ache!
Firstly…in relation to marrying a name-sake Christian…what if she is more leaning towards atheism and is sold on the ideas of Richard Dawkins or Steven Hawkings? That definitely wouldn’t be easier…on the contrary if a person marries a true Christian woman, and then works on the ‘similarities’ between themselves, that might be easier than getting married to someone who you practically have no similarity and common ground with!
Secondly…I’ve seen people who claim that they can be the stronger ‘component’ in the marriage and will be able to show the wife the path of Allah…but what happened in some of these scenarios is that the brother…melted like butter and became ‘spineless’ pushover that practically lost his faith!

Let me share with you the story of one of the Tabi’een who was among the strongest in Hifdth of the Quran in his company…during the raid on a Roman fortress he saw a woman looking down, and he yelled up to her ‘how can I be with you’, and she told him the way and he deserted his own camp…the Muslims were so distraught…they left an came back after some time…they called out for that man and asked what has your Quran availed you? He yelled back…”I forget the entire quran save one verse:

وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا تُرْ‌جَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّـهِ ۖ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ

Meaning: And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly. (2:281)”

Do you want to become a ‘stat’? I know I don’t! May Allah protect us…Ameen!

Second Question:

You mentioned that a Muslim should not marry ‘name-sake’ Christians…and that they should only eat the food of a practicing Christian when the guidelines are followed properly…was this true during the time of the Prophet…were all Christians practicing?

Answer:

In relation to this question, it relates to a point in the course where we spoke of ‘name-sake’ vs. ‘real-practicing’ Christians. In answering this, I must ask…what makes a person ‘belong’ to a particular religious group? Is it simply what they were raised with, or does it go back to the family heritage?
In my view…it is neither, it would more pertain to the individual and their practice and dedication towards their faith. Allah, the Exalted, outlined for us in the Quran who a Christian is…
a. He says:

لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ‌ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّـهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلَاثَةٍ ۘ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَـٰهٍ إِلَّا إِلَـٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۚ وَإِن لَّمْ يَنتَهُوا عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

Meaning: They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three.” And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.

b. He also says:

لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ‌ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّـهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَ ۚ قُلْ فَمَن يَمْلِكُ مِنَ اللَّـهِ شَيْئًا إِنْ أَرَ‌ادَ أَن يُهْلِكَ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْ‌يَمَ وَأُمَّهُ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ جَمِيعًا ۗ وَلِلَّـهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ‌

Meaning: They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary. Say, “Then who could prevent Allah at all if He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?” And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.

c. He also says:

وَقَالَتِ النَّصَارَ‌ى الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ اللَّـهِ

Meaning: The Christians say that ‘Al-Maseeh’ is the son of Allah.

The Christians during the time of the Prophet, may Allah praise him, were quite religious…as is witnessed in every scenario where Muslims and Christians actually met each other…the delegation of Najran, the Christians of Ethiopia, and the Christians in Syria (Heracles) who met Abu Sufyan. Even during the Battle of Mu’tah…it is recorded that the Roman armies were lead by Christian preachers who openly supplicated for victory. All these examples point to the fact that they were quite religious and that the norm was ‘being religious’.
Of course, this doesn’t exclude the odd individual or group that may have not been ‘all that religious’! Looking at that period in time, Europe was plunged in what is known as the ‘Dark Ages’, which in essence is a term granted to the domination of the Church over society. The Church was the ruler, judge, and executer. So, in my view…very religious, unlike today.
Today the norm among Christians is interesting, you will find a minority who are religious, who usually cling together as a community and then there are those who are less committed to faith, and yet others who state they are Christian but are on the brink of atheism. Look at how Jesus, may Allah praise him, is scoffed at in common folklore and in the media! Its abhorrent…Subhanallah!
So if you have a real-Christian, who does the slaughter…it would fall under the laws that legalize this within the framework of our Shariah….but if it is an atheistic, cultural ‘Christian’, I believe that person is not included in the framework of the verse.
May Allah bless us all. Ameen!