Converting and Children

Submitted by Hides (Australia), Mar 5, 2012 at 06:25

I think like all marriages, it is about marrying the RIGHT muslim. I am a Christian woman married to a Muslim man from Egypt. Our marriage has the usual ups and downs but it has nothing to do with our religions. When you marry anyone from a differing religion, you need to go in with your eyes wide open. We had agreements before we got married.

I will never convert because I feel absolutely no need...we have similar morals and values and there are no restrictions upon him being with a Christian woman. If we have children, yes they will be muslim, they will learn about the Quran, Eid and Ramadan...they will also learn about Easter and Christmas. Currently my husband celebrates with my family, both Easter and Christmas, as will any children we have. The main reason is that Muslims are expected to raise Muslim children to continue the faith and culture and if I had come from a strict Christian family, I would probably be expected to raise Christian children. My hope is that our children are raised believing in one God and to be happy.

I guess that if we did not live in Australia, our lives may be more complicated, in the event that we did separate. Men are not given custody of children solely to be spiteful and it does not mean that they are never to be seen by their mother. The belief is that children up to the age of 9 need their mother more than their father and after 9 they need a stronger male role model. We may not agree with this type of thinking, but it has nothing to do with Muslim men exerting power.

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