Ruling on interacting with a Muslim family whose daughter is married to a disbeliever

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

The Ahmadiyyah – or Qadianiyyah – are a sect that is beyond
the pale of Islam. 

In a fatwa of the Standing Committee for Academic Research
and Issuing Fatwas (2/220) it says: 

Question: what is the ruling on this new religion and its
followers, i.e., a religion that is called Ahmadiyyah, whose missionaries
warn people against some verses of the Qur’an or names of Allah, and they
forbid sending blessings upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him)? Where and when did this religion originate? What is the ruling on
those who turn away from it? 

Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His
Messenger and his family and companions… To proceed: 

Answer: The Pakistani government has issued a ruling that
this sect is outside of Islam. The Muslim World League in Makkah has also
issued a ruling to that effect. The Conference of Islamic Organizations that
was held by the League in 1394 AH has published an essay which outlines the
principles of this sect, and how and when it originated, and other facts
about it. 

To sum up: it is a sect which claims that the Indian Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet who received revelation, and that no person’s
Islam is valid unless he believes in him. He was born in the thirteenth
century AH, but Allah, may He be glorified, stated in His holy Book that our
Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is the seal of
the Prophets (i.e., the last Prophet), and the Muslim scholars are
unanimously agreed on that. Hence anyone who claims that there is any
prophet after him who receives revelation from Allah, may He be glorified
and exalted, is a kaafir (disbeliever) because he has disbelieved in the
Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and he has disbelieved in
the saheeh hadeeths from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) which indicate that he is the Seal of the Prophets, and
he has gone against the consensus of the ummah. 

And Allah is the source of strength; may Allah sent blessings
and peace upon Allah Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. 

Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas. 

‘Abdullah ibn Qa‘ood, ‘Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq
‘Afeefi, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz.

End quote. 

Based on that, it is not permissible for a Muslim woman to
marry a man from this sect, because it is not permissible for a Muslim woman
to marry a disbeliever. 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):


“And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikoon
till they believe (in Allah Alone)”


[al-Baqarah 2:221]. 

At-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

What Allah, may He be exalted, means in this verse is that He
has forbidden believing women to marry a mushrik (polytheist) of any
type. So do not, O Muslim men, give them (Muslim women) in marriage to them
(mushrikeen), for that is forbidden to you.

End quote from Tafseer at-Tabari, 4/370 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):


“O you who believe! When believing women come to you as
emigrants, examine them, Allah knows best as to their Faith, then if you
ascertain that they are true believers, send them not back to the
disbelievers, they are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the
disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them. But give the disbelievers that
(amount of money) which they have spent (as their Mahr) to them”


[al-Mumtahinah 60:10]. 

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Allah says: “they are not lawful (wives) for the
disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them”. This
verse is the one which prohibited Muslim women to mushrik men.

End quote. Tafseer al-Qur’an al-‘Azeem, 13/521 

This family whose daughter is married to an Ahmadi man has
gone against the ruling of Allah, may He be exalted, and has given their
daughter in a marriage that is invalid according to scholarly consensus, and
this has made her vulnerable to joining the kaafir sect of her husband, as
usually happens. 

For more information, please see fatwa no.
144765 

Secondly: 

What is your duty with regard to this family? 

If this family is unaware of the Islamic ruling on the
Ahmadiyyah or is unaware of the prohibition on marriage of a Muslim woman to
a kaafir, then what you must do in this case is teach them and alert them to
this fact. 

That is because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: “Whoever among you sees an evil
action, then let him change it with his hand [by taking action]; if he
cannot, then with his tongue [by
speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart – and that is the
weakest of faith.”

Narrated by Muslim, 78. 

You will attain a great reward for teaching them about the
Islamic rulings of which they are unaware. 

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “Verily Allah and His angels, and the inhabitants of the heavens
and the earth, even the ant in its hole and the fish, invoke blessings upon
the one who teaches the people good things.”

Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, 2685; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani
in Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmidhi, no. 2685 

But if this family is aware of the ruling on the Ahmadiyyah
sect, and knows that it is a kaafir sect that is beyond the pale of Islam,
and they know that a marriage between a kaafir man and a Muslim women is
haraam, but they did not pay attention to that, then in that case there is
nothing wrong with shunning them for the sake of Allah, so as to be harsh
with them, denounce the evil deeds, express disavowal of their action and
deter them from this way. 

Al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Chapter on what is permissible of shunning one who has
committed sin. 

Ka‘b said, when he lagged behind and did not join the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) – i.e., he failed to join the
campaign to Tabook: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
forbade the Muslims to speak to us… And he mentioned fifty days.

End quote from Fath al-Baari (10/497). 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

What is meant by this report is to highlight the kind of
shunning that is permissible, because the general meaning of the prohibition
on shunning a Muslim applies only in the case of one who is not being
shunned for a legitimate shar‘i reason. But here the reason for shunning is
explained, which is that it is directed at a person who committed a sin, so
it is justified for the one who sees him doing that to shun him for that
reason, so that he will stop doing it.

End quote from Fath al-Baari, 10/497 

Moreover  there is a greater reason to shun people in such
cases, those who commit crimes and sins, if a Muslim fears that if he mixes
with them he may be influenced by their sins, or he may join them in that,
or that he may be spoken ill of, or that it may be detrimental to his
religious commitment or his worldly interests 

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

My view is that if a person fears that sitting with him or
talking to him may be detrimental to his religious commitment or worldly
interests, and may increase enmity and resentment, then shunning him and
keeping away from him is better than staying close to him, because that will
protect you from slipping and from his specious arguments against what you
believe is correct, and you will not be safe from the bad consequences of
mixing with them. Shunning (in a peaceful manner) may be better than mixing
which may lead to trouble.

End quote from al-Istidhkaar, 26/149-150 

In fact whether you should continue your ties with this
family, or denounce them, or shun them, depends on the nature of the
relationship between you and them, and what shunning is likely to lead to of
serving a legitimate shar‘i interest or may lead to negative consequences
that outweigh any shar‘i interest. Moreover we think that what is usual in
such cases is that your relationship with them is not strong, and there is
no direct connection between you and a family such as this; rather the
matter has to do with your sister who is married to one of them, and does
not have anything to do with you. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said: 

Shunning varies according to how strong or weak, and how few
or how numerous the people who are doing the shunning are. The purpose is to
rebuke and discipline the person being shunned and to deter the masses from
doing likewise. 

If the purpose is more likely be to achieved by shunning, and
it will weaken and reduce the evil, then it is prescribed, but if the person
being shunned and others will not be deterred by that, rather the evil will
increase, and the person doing the shunning is weak and the bad consequences
will outweigh the good, then shunning is not prescribed, rather softening
the hearts of some people is more effective than shunning. 

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 28/206 

And Allah knows best.