‘Religious Difference’ as an Impediment to Marriagewith Reference to The Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag Case of 2014 and Its Reflections to the Practices in the Ottoman Empire

Religious difference is considered as a temporary Impediment to marriage in the Islamic Law. The Qur’an states that a Muslim man can marry a virtuous non-Muslim woman belonging to the People of the Book but does not explicitly refer to a Muslim woman. Although various religious sects do not appreciate marriages between Muslim men and non-Muslim women for different reasons, the majority approves such marriages. On the other hand, marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man is not allowed within the context of the traditional understanding in which the man is dominant in the marriage community. As in the Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag case which took place in Sudan, this prohibition against women still continues in a number of countries applying Sharia law. When the practices in the Ottoman Empire are taken into account, it can be stated that although marriages between Muslim men and women belonging to the People of the Book were allowed, such marriages were not common in all regions and historical periods of the empire