Originally posted by: PangaNaLe
Women converting because of marriage doesn't just happen because of religion but also because of patriarchy. Women are expected to give sacrifices in a marriage. She's the one changing her surname, leaving her parents and home, sometimes even her city and her job. That is why its considered natural for her to change her religion as well. While its legal in India for two people of different religion to get married and still practice their own religion, its still very uncommon, especially in small towns and rural areas.
Men still live with their parents. How common is it for a joint family to accept a daughter-in-law from a different religion AND let her practice it in their house even after marriage? Its not even just limited to Islam. I come from a Christian family and in Christianity there are different churches (Catholics and Protestants). I've seen it in my own family. While love marriages are not forbidden and couples from different churches can get married even in an arranged marriage setting, the girl is still expected to leave her church and join the church the man follows. Their kids would also follow the church of the father.
My mom has a colleague who is a Christian who married a Hindu guy. Neither of them changed their religion even after marriage. My mom and her friends make fun of them. Ask why she didn't change her religion and convert into a Hindu. They call their kids "half breed". I tried to make her understand how bad her mentality is but she doesn't understand. That's how deep rooted patriarchy is. Even for Hindu families, its very uncommon to accept a muslim daughter-in-law.
That is why inter-religious couples find it convenient for either to change their religion. Most of the time its the woman because of course she's expected to give all the sacrifices. Especially when they're not very religious.
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