Seeking Advice as a Sunni in a Shia Family Environment
Assalamu alaikum. In my family, my father follows Shia Islam, while my mother is Sunni. Usually, the father guides the sons (me and my brother) and the mother guides the daughters (my sister) in our beliefs, but overall, our household leans toward Shia practices, with my mom having Sunni inclinations. I don't agree with Shia beliefs. Honestly, I'm not as religious as I'd like to be, and I feel the Shia upbringing I've had plays a part in that. The issue is that my father is very set in his ways. In my 19 years, I've never heard him admit he's wrong, even when he often is. I'm not exaggerating at all-he'll spend hours debating with his Sunni friends about Islam. My mother also thinks I should obey my father without question, seeing anything else as disrespectful. My main concerns are: 1. My father often takes us to Shia events, like Majalis during Muharram to remember Imam Husayn or the Ashura Juloos in Toronto. I try to skip these by making excuses about work or school, but I don't like lying to my parents since it's not right. 2. I don't want to marry a Shia woman. I'm okay with the arranged marriage custom in our Pakistani community, and while we haven't talked about it yet, it's obvious they're waiting for me to finish my studies and get a job first. I plan to raise my children with Sunni teachings, but I fear marrying a Shia woman might make that difficult. I want to stress that if I told my father directly, he'd be furious-like, disown-me level angry. He'd probably ignore my feelings about faith, blame my Sunni friends for 'influencing' me, or say I'm just being lazy and not dedicating time to Islam, which isn't true. He's incredibly stubborn. I live with my parents and siblings and depend on them completely, with no savings or job to move out since I'm focused on my studies. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice would be appreciated. JazakAllah khair.