A question I have been thinking about for a while is the following.

Given the fact of a strong condemnation of Hypocricy in the Qur'an, I wonder about the following observation. There are a number of Muslims who do marry Christian women and "use" the power of romantic feelings enticing them to disobey the clear teaching of the Bible. One can even hear the express hope/plan that this is getting the foot in the door and to later convert her to Islam... My sense for moral behavior and integrity revolts against this attitude. I do understand that marrying Christian women is allowed for Muslims, but does the fact that this is bound up with the pressure to be disobedient to one's confessed religious allegience and to become hypocritical not enough to let any person of integrity refrain from persuing this approach?

I don't say that every Muslim does have such a hidden agenda when in a romantic relationship with a Christian woman, but it might be a point helpful to ponder when thinking about marriage and faith.

I myself do hope that Muslims will realize that the Truth of God is to be found in Jesus, the Bible, and authentic Christianity, but I would at all times encourage the (still) Muslim to be obedient to that which (s)he still believes to be true and confesses as his/her faith. Integrity and obedience to the truth is of utmost importance in the Christian Faith. How then can I support anything that will lead the other to compromise on what (s)he holds to be true?

If a Muslim starts to disobey that which he still confesses to be the word of God, [whether neglecting the prayers, or start drinking alcohol, ...] then this would NOT be a step nearer to the Christian faith, but a step AWAY from true Christianity, since one cannot become a Christian by the way of compromising one's integrity of faith and deeds. Honesty and integrity is a necessary ingredient for God to receive a new member into his community of believers.

I fail to see how some (many?) Muslims would interpret a Christian's disobedience as the first step of coming nearer to (true ?) Islam, even though it is certainly true that somebody who is already on the road of disobedience to God will with higher probability finally abandon his/her faith and convert for whatever reasons (and the pressures are high when married to a Muslim and living in a more or less Islamic environment). But what kind of "quality conversion" is this?

I am interested to see Muslims be obedient to what they believe to be true. Then I hope and pray be able by the grace of God to show some of them that the Bible is the true word of God and then see them again continue in integrity to act on their new understanding of what is the truth. But seduction to hypocricy and disobedience is not honoring to the God of truth.

I only talked here about the relationship between a Muslim man and a Christian woman here since that is the most common constellation. But obviously the same holds for a Christian man and a Muslim woman. The situation is slightly different though, since in the last situation both the Muslim and the Christian are acting in disobedience to their scriptures. As such both seem not to be willing to compromise their own faith, but my appeal was to those Muslims who take their faith fully serious, not to people whose priorities in life are not shaped by God anyway.

Answering Islam Home Page