AN EXTRAORDINARY MARRIAGE STORY: MARRIAGE BETWEEN MUSLIM WOMEN AND NON-MUSLIM MEN

Despite the widespread opinion in the Islamic tradition that it is forbidden for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim, many Muslim women marry out of religions in Western countries. In this study, the decision-making processes of Muslim women in this unusual marriage and the attitudes of their families towards interfaith marriage were examined. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with 19 Muslim women married to non-Muslim men. Firstly, the research data revealed that the main reason for Muslim women to decide on such a marriage is 'love'. Many Muslim women decided to get married to non-Muslim men because they fell in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, which is similar to the reasons for most marriages. Also, living away from the family has been a factor that facilitated the process of deciding to marry for Muslim women and reduced the family pressure. Although some of the Muslim families showed a supportive attitude towards interfaith marriage, most of the families had a negative attitude towards their daughters marrying a man from a different religion. The religious differences, cultural differences, community pressure and personal concerns all played an important role in the families' attitudes. Non-Muslim families, on the other hand, preferred to abstain, leaving the final decision to their sons, even if they thought negatively about their sons marrying a Muslim girl. However, the common concern of the children of both Muslim and non-Muslim families about their marriage is the possibility of being pressured about their religious beliefs or being forced to convert.