Is Congressman Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, a “Practicing Muslims?”

1. Is Congressman Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, a “Practicing Muslims?”
In the aftermath of the publicity about NY Congressman Weiner and his wife, Huma
Abedin, CNN and other media keep referring to her as a “Practicing Muslim.”
Before I start this article to educate those who wish to read more about the practices of
authentic Islam, I want to emphasize that this article is not about the Congressman’s
private life, his legacy or his wife. This is solely about the misconceptions of US media in
making uneducated comments about Muslims. This article is to educate and is not
intended to cause any further hurt to either the congressman or his wife.
As the Tweeter saga grows more detailed and graphic daily, I, as a practicing Muslim,
have noticed every time the Congressman’s wife enters the conversation, apart from
flattering compliments about her fashion sense, the media keeps referring to her as a
“Practicing Muslim.”
As an authentic Muslim and Shi’a Islam Scholar, it is both my personal and religious
duty to educate others whenever possible. Islam not only encourages us to do so but
God, or Allah, orders those who are educated about Islam to educate others.
First: When we talk about marriage in Islam, a marriage between two religions is
impossible unless, of course, the man or woman coverts to Islam. We have two kinds of
conversion. One, the person willingly decides to practice and therefore agrees to pray, go
to hajj and become a fully practicing Muslim like the rest of us. No questions asked
about his or her past, the person becomes a Muslim. God says it is as though that person
were just born, clean of any sins and therefore when we meet those who convert to Islam
we greet them with great respect and don’t try to remember who they were
The second version of conversion is what we call a “conversion of convenience.” This
means that a non-Muslim individual, male or female, agrees to marry a Muslim but will
not necessarily participate in the Islamic rituals. Both are agreeable according to the laws
of Islam.
In the ceremonial process, the Congressman and his wife were wed through the power
vested in President Clinton. According to the laws of Islam, it doesn’t matter if Prophet,
Moses, Jesus or even Mohammed were present unless the Congressman converts to
Islam. Ms. Huma Abedin cannot marry a Jew an remain a Muslim regardless of who was
present.
If they decided to have President Clinton preside at their marriage, they needed to have a
Muslim ceremony before hand. They could then exchange vows but could not use any
other books, such as Torah or Bible, for their American ceremony. This is not
discrimination toward any religion but mandatory rules of Islam.

2. In the laws of Islam, there are two types of marriages. Type one; a couple marries
permanently as in any other culture. Type two, a man and woman can marry temporarily.
This is called Sigha ‫ - ;الصيغة‬boy friend and girl friend type of living common law style.
Sigha, is a common law marriage for the Muslim society. Mind you, women in Muslim
countries do not like it and among Kurdish people it is highly disreputable unless the
woman is truly in need. E.g.: her husband is dead; she has children, has no other means of
support and needs someone to take care of her and her children. This type of marriage is
allowed by God solely for the benefit of women but in most Muslim societies, men take
advantage of temporary marriages to cheat on their permanent wife or wives. Up to four
wives are allowed in Islam if the man can divide his time, resources and devotion
completely equal to each wife. It is a noble theory that, regrettably, is not strictly adhered
to in Muslim cultures, especially in Saudi Arabia from where Mrs. Huma Abedin comes.
In Islam, there is also a difference between marriage for women and for men. A Muslim
man can marry a non-Muslim woman, Christian or Jew alike, for a temporary time which
can be set for 2 minutes or 20 years. Temporary marriage is a contract between two
people and they choose the time period they spend together. The temporary marriage for
a man with a non-Muslim woman means he can have a common law and live with her
until they decide to marry permanently; at which time she must convert to Islam. She
does not have to convert during temporary marriage. However, during the temporary
marriage she can’t eat pork or drink alcohol because these two are highly forbidden in
Islam and in our homes. A Muslim woman can’t be in any kind of engagement with a
non-Muslim man unless that man converts and marriage is permanent. So, a temporary
marriage with a non-Muslim man is out of question for a Muslim woman. Again, it can
be conversion of convenience but still has to obey the laws of Islam.
There is a reason that Islam is very strict about women’s marriage versus that of men. In
Arabic cultures, when a child, particularly a boy is born, the mother is named after the
child. For example, if his name is Ali, the mother is called “mother of Ali in literal
translation ” or
‫.أم علي‬
This means the child has so much value in Islam that it must be brought up a Muslim. He
or she can’t be a little Jew and a little Muslim. A child’s faith in Islam has bearing on its
future action; therefore the mother can’t marry a non- Muslim at all.
The Congressman publicly says he is a Jew and of course his constituents would have
been critical if he changed his religion to Islam to marry a woman of that faith. But then
we keep hearing his wife is a practicing Muslim. These two phrases don’t go together.
Either she is not a practicing Muslim who decided to marry a man from any faith she
wishes. Or, the Congressman’s wife is a practicing Muslim woman whose husband
converted to Islam and is no longer a Jew.

3. Deceiving the public is not acceptable according to Islam. Our faith is very restricted
when it comes to marriage. We can not hide it. We, as Muslims, have been brought up to
be honest with people regardless of our profession. Our faith has become politicized but
if we decide to save it, first and foremost we need to be truthful. If we are truly
practicing, we should say stand up and say so. At least have the decency to say we are
born to Islam but not fully or at all practicing. Unlike other religions where people may
choose to hide their practices, Islam encourages and God orders you to tell people you are
a practicing member of your faith. Deception by those on the far right spectrum, who are
called radicals, and on the far left, who call themselves “liberal, secular or moderate
Muslim”, is what has impacted the foreign policy of America.
If we don’t understand the billions of people in the middle and rely for information on
those who don’t understand Islam fully, we will receive bad advice and not know it. It
will impact the actions of the US government in the world and directly impact the
American people.
The US media, knowingly or not, is not doing a good job in researching practicing
Muslims to educate America. Or, perhaps they simply don’t care to educate the American
people properly. This will hurt America. Knowledge is the weapon of the 21st century and
those who have it can stand up to any Jihad that might be pronounced on America. I
humbly suggest, let us make American powerful and educate the American people so
they can stand up to the radicals who pretend to practice Islam.
Ghazal Omid