Being of the same caste and clan for marriage
Question: Is it necessary for the husband and wife to be of the same caste for marriage? Can a Sayyid marry a non-Sayyid?
Answer: A girl who is a Sayyida or Hashimiyya, or anyone else, may be married without hesitation to any Muslim boy, as her marriage is permissible. Because preference and superiority are not based on racial distinctions, lineage, status and grandeur, wealth, caste or clan, and so on, but depend on lofty qualities such as piety, righteousness, and the fear of Allah.
As the Prophet ﷺ clearly explained while delivering the sermon at the Farewell Pilgrimage, that an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor a black person over a white, nor a white over a black. The sanctity of every Muslim is equally sacred. In the Holy Quran, Allah the Exalted says:
«يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ»
“O people! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may recognise one another. Indeed, the most honourable of you in the sight of Allah is the one among you who is most righteous.”
That is, since you are all equal by virtue of being children of one father and mother, it is ignorance and foolishness for any individual to take pride in his lineage and to regard another as contemptible and abased. Although in origin you are all one and alike, your division into different families, tribes and nations was a natural matter. Therefore We made you into divisions, but the purpose of this division is not superiority and inferiority, nor to establish a standard of honour and disgrace, but rather recognition and acquaintance with one another.
The summary of the matter is that no one has any preference over another because of family lineage and racial distinctions; preference depends only on piety and righteousness. Therefore, a Sayyid and a non-Sayyid are equal, and both are from the children of Adam.
In another place, Allah the Exalted says:
«إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ»
“Indeed, the believers are but brothers.”
This is proof that Muslims are brothers to one another and are equal members and honoured constituents of the Muslim society. That is, the marriage of a Sayyida girl to a non-Sayyid Muslim is permissible.
There are many examples of this in Islamic history:
➊ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of his paternal aunt Umayma bint Abd al-Muttalib, to Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him), even though Zayd was a freed slave and Lady Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) was a Qurashi woman.
➋ Usama bin Zayd and Fatima bint Qays al-Qurashiyya (may Allah be pleased with them both) were married.
➌ Sayyidina Bilal al-Habashi (may Allah be pleased with him) was married to a sister of Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyidina Bilal al-Habashi was a slave whom Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) freed, while Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) was a prominent and well-known merchant of the Quraysh tribe.
➍ Abu Hudhayfa bin Utba, a participant of Badr (may Allah be pleased with him), married his niece Hind bint Walid bin Utba to Sayyidina Salim (may Allah be pleased with him), who was a freed slave of an Ansari woman.
➎ Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) gave his daughter Umm Kulthum bint Fatima in marriage to Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).
➏ The Prophet ﷺ gave his two daughters, Sayyida Ruqayya and Sayyida Umm Kulthum (may Allah be pleased with them both), in marriage one after the other to Sayyidina Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), although he was Hashimi and Sayyidina Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was Umayyad.
➐ Sayyidina Ali bin Husayn, known as Zayn al-Abidin, was married to Shahr Banu bint Yazdajird bin Shahriyar. Therefore, according to the Quran and Sunnah, the only condition for kafa’a (suitability) in marriage is religion, and other matters are of secondary importance. The common and well-known custom in our country, that one should not marry outside one’s own clan, is entirely wrong and based on ignorance, and has no standing. All these views are the result of unfamiliarity with the Quran and Sunnah.
