She found out after marriage that her husband is a Raafidi (Shi’i). What should she do?

Firstly:

We are amazed that people can give their daughters in marriage to followers of innovation and misguidance and deviance, and even to heretics and kaafirs. But our amazement is reduced when we realise that people are ignorant of these misguided beliefs and the fact that they are contrary to the beliefs of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah. Our amazement is also reduced when we realise that there are fatwas of ignorance and misguidance that are widespread among the people, not only from over-lenient Shaykhs who regard it as permissible to give a Sunni woman in marriage to a Sufi or Shi’i, but also from heretics who disguise themselves as men of religion and knowledge who issue fatwas permitting marriage of a Muslim woman to a kaafir!

The chronic problem here is that when people are ignorant about their religion and are heedless about the laws of Islam, they do not care much about the issue of marriage and do not think to ask a suitor about his religion and check on him. Rather all their concern is about worldly interests and living standards. They accept the one who suits them with regard to that, and they ignore his misdeeds, and they reject the one who does not suit them, even if he is good and righteous, and fasts and prays at night a great deal.

With regard to your marriage to this Raafidi (Shi’i), it is an invalid marriage and is abrogated according to sharee’ah, so long as this man believes in the misguidance and heresy that is in al-Kaafi (a Shi’i book).

You and your family must strive for a separation between you and him. If this annulment does not come about easily, then ask him for a divorce. If he refuses and there is no one who can apply the laws of Allaah with regard to this marriage, then you may separate from him by means of khula’, giving him whatever he wants of money, such as giving up the deferred portion of the mahr, or returning all or part of what he gave to you, and thus ransom yourself from him.

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:

Allaah decreed that a Kurdish man who claims to be a Sunni and is outwardly righteous should propose marriage to me. His name is Haydar ‘Abd al-Husayn al-Jaabiri. He accompanied my father for several months, during which he was hosted by my father. During this period he was of good character and religiously committed, and he presented himself to my father as being a Sunni, and he attacked the Shi’ah openly. Based on what my father saw of his righteousness and piety, my father agreed to give me in marriage to him. After the marriage contract was done and he consummated the marriage with me, he announced that he was not a Sunni; rather he was a fanatical Shi’i. When we asked him to come back to Islam and to the way of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah, and we put pressure on him, he said: I am neither Sunni nor Shi’i, I am a communist! (i.e., an atheist).

Respected mufti, my question is: What is the shar’i ruling on my staying with this man in this situation, especially since I hated him since he disclosed his hateful secret to us, and he deceived us in the past by making us think that he was a Sunni Muslim. What is the way to annul this marriage contract? How can I annul it, especially since I live in a non-Muslim country?

They replied:

It is not permissible to give the daughters of Sunni families in marriage to the sons of Shi’is or Communists. If the marriage takes place, it is invalid, because it is well known that the Shi’ah offer supplication (du’aa’) to Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet’s family) and seek help through them, and this is major shirk; and the communists are atheists and have no religion at all. You have to go back to your family and not allow this man to be intimate with you, and you have to refer the matter to the authorities in your own country.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal al-Shaykh, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (18/298-300)

See also the answer to questions no. 44549 and 4569.

Secondly:

The book al-Kaafi contains kufr and heresy. It is the primary reference of the Shi’ah madhhab. See the answer to question no. 111952.