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Q&A · Marriage & Divorce

Which women is a man permanently or temporarily forbidden to marry?

Allah lists the permanently forbidden women in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, nieces, milk-mothers and milk-sisters, mothers-in-law, step-daughters raised under one's care, the wives of one's sons, and the woman one's father married. Temporarily forbidden are: a woman already married or in her ʿiddah, a fifth wife while four are held, a woman in iḥrām for Ḥajj or ʿUmrah, a mushrikah or an apostate (the chaste women of the People of the Book being excepted by Allah in Sūrat al-Māʾidah), and combining two sisters — and the Prophet ﷺ likewise said, "A woman and her paternal aunt should not be married to the same man, nor a woman and her maternal aunt" (agreed upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim). Marrying a woman one's father married is described by Allah as "an immorality and hateful," and it remains ḥarām even after the father's death or divorce. A contract within the permanently forbidden categories is not a valid marriage at all and the couple must be separated; the same applies to the temporary bars, except that the Ḥanafīs hold the contract of one in iḥrām to be valid.

Evidence — the daleel
Quran 4:22Quran 4:23Quran 4:24Quran 2:221Quran 5:5Sahih al-Bukhari 5109 Ṣaḥīḥ
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Informational, not a personal fatwa. Consult a qualified scholar for rulings on your situation.

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