Russian Government did not ban Muslim men from marrying non-Muslim women - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 25, 2020
A photo of a media report is being shared on social media claiming that the Russian President Vladimir Putin banned mixed-religion marriages for Muslims in Russia. With the increased debate over alleged incidents of Love Jihad in India,  this post is going viral on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Russian President Vladimir Putin banned mixed-religion marriages for Muslims in Russia.
Fact: Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia (DUM) passed a religious ruling that bans Muslims in Russia marrying non-Muslim women. This ruling is passed by the advisory council of this religious organization. This ruling has no legal power from the Russian Government. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for this ruling in the Russian Government website, it is found that the Russian government hasn’t issued any such ruling of restricting interfaith marriages for Muslims. This ruling was indeed issued by a Russian Muslim organization ‘Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia’. Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia (DUM) organization’s advisory council scholars issued a fatwa, restricting Muslim men marrying non-Muslim women in Russia. According to the fatwa, any interfaith marriage of Muslim men is allowed only in ‘isolated cases’, that local muftis can approve. Raising concerns over the different world views and disagreements, scholars of DUM issued this fatwa.
Several high level Russian Muslim figures disagreed with this fatwa issued by the clerics of  Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia (DUM) organization.  DUM’s organization scholars later clarified that non-Muslim women can marry Muslim men as long as they respect Islamic tradition and don’t prevent their husbands to raise their children in Islamic traditions. Deputy Chairman of DUM, Damir Mukhetdinov in a media statement said ‘Russia is a secular state. So, the decision of clerics has no Legal Power’.
To sum it up, Russian Government hasn’t issued any ruling that bans Muslim men marrying non-Muslim women in Russia.