From Musnad Zayd on inter-tribal, inter-ethnic marriages in Islam

Zayd bin Ali (RA) said regarding compatibility in marriage: People are compatible for each other be they Arab, non-Arab, Qurayshi or Hashimi. When they enter into Islam and believe, their deen is one, what is for them is for us, and what is upon them is upon us. Their obligations and what’s mandatory are one. There is no portion of them that are superior to others.

And surely Allah said in Surah 2, ayah 221, “Don’t marry polytheists until they believe.” Thus permission has been given to believers, Arabs and non-Arabs, that they can marry former polytheists, Arabs and non-Arabs, once they enter into Islam.”

Certainly Zayd bin Harithah, a former slave, married Zaynab bint Jahsh, a lady from Quraysh. Bilal married Halah bint ‘Awf, the sister of Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf [who was the richest of the Sahabah]. Zurayq, a man freed from slavery by the Messenger of Allah (SAWS), married ‘Amrah bint Bishr bin Abi ‘Al-Aws bin Umayyah. Abdullah bin Razah, a man freed from slavery by Mu’awiyah, married bint ‘Amr bin Hurayth. Ammar bin Yassir married the sister of ‘Amr bin Hurayth. Abu Mijdham bin Abi Fakihah married a lady from Bani Zuhrah. Taken from Musnad Zayd, Book of Marriage, Chapter on Compatibility.

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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