[Q 285] Legal Status of Marrying Wife’s Kin

Question

What is the Islamic ruling regarding marrying one’s sister-in-law or niece-in-law in the presence of one’s wife?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب اللهم هداية الحق والصواب

Answer

According to Shariah laws, marrying the sister or niece of one’s wife while she is still married to him is haram (forbidden) and such a marriage would be considered invalid (Fasid). It is clearly prohibited in the Hadith, and the wisdom behind this prohibition is beautifully stated: gathering these women under the marriage of one man leads to severance of kinship ties, as co-wives often end up in disputes and harbor animosity towards each other. The sacred Shariah has deemed it mandatory to maintain ties of kinship between two sisters and between an aunt and a niece and declared severance of such ties as haram. Therefore, a marriage that could lead to such severance is also declared haram.

In Sahih Muslim and other Kutub Sittah, it is stated:

 “نهى رسول الله ﷺ أن تنكح المرأة على عمتها أو خالتها”

The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) prohibited marrying a woman in the presence of her aunt or maternal aunt.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith No 1408)

The wisdom behind this prohibition is explained in another blessed Hadith:

 “إنكن إذا فعلتن ذلك قطعتن أرحامكن”

If you do this, you will indeed sever your ties of kinship.

(Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith No. 4116)

Al-Mabsut by Al-Sarakhsi states,

” وفيه دليل على حرمة نكاح المرأة على عمتها وخالتها؛ لأن هذا النهي بصيغة الخبر ۔۔۔ والنهي يقتضي التحريم “،

(Al-Mabsut by Al-Sarakhsi, Volume 4, Page 195, Muttaba Al-Saada)

Fatawa Tatarkhaniya mentions,

” وفي كل محل لا يجوز الجمع لو وجد على الترتيب فالثاني يفسد دون الاول “

(Fatawa Tatarkhaniya, Vol 4, page 78, publisher Quetta)

Bada’i al-Sanai explains,

 لأن الجمع بين ذواتي رحم محرم في النكاح سبب لقطيعة الرحم؛ لأن الضرتين يتنازعان ويختلفان ولا يأتلفان هذا أمر معلوم بالعرف والعادة، وذلك يفضي إلى قطع الرحم، وأنه حرام، والنكاح سبب فيحرم حتى لا يؤدي إليه، وإلى هذا المعنى أشار النبي ﷺ في آخر الحديث فيما روي أنه قال: «إنكم لو فعلتم ذلك لقطعتم أرحامهن

(Bada’i al-Sanai, Vol 2, page 262, Dar al kutub al Ilmiyya)

Answered by: Mufti Sajid Attari

Translated answer

Date: 7th May 2024