Can a Muslim Marry a Catholic?

Praise be to Allah.

If a Muslim wants to marry a Christian woman , she does not have to become Muslim first, because of the general statement in the Quran (interpretation of the meaning):

“Made lawful to you this day are . . . chaste women from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before your time . . .” [Al-Ma’idah 5:5]

The conditions for a non-Muslim woman to marry a Muslim man are that she should be of the People of the Book (Jewish or Christian) and that she should be chaste .

We remind the Muslims living outside the Muslim world that they should not rush into taking such a step, and if they wish to do so, they should think long and hard, even though marrying a woman of the People of the Book is permitted in principle. There is a very real possibility of the children becoming Christian, especially in countries where the law favours the non-Muslim mother. In fact many such tragedies have occurred. We ask Allah to guide us all and give us strength. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad.