The
Wife Of Your Wife's Father (Your Wife's Stepmother) Is Not
A Mahram For You
Islamic Rulings -
Living Shariah Verdicts
Islamic Questions & Answers
Is my wifes stepmother my mahrem .
Praise be to Allaah.
The wife of your wife's father is not considered to be
a mahram for you, so it would be permissible for you
to marry her, because whether or not a person is a
mahram can only be proven by a text of sharee'ah, and
there is no text to state that this person is a mahram.
Rather, when Allaah listed the women who are mahrams,
He stated that all others are permissible for
marriage. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"All others are lawful" [al-Nisa' 4:24]
Not only that, it is also permissible to be married to
a woman and her father's ex-wife at the same time,
according to the majority of scholars.
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said: Being married to a man's
ex-wife and his daughter from another wife at the same
time is permissible according to the majority but is
makrooh according to some of the salaf.
Jaami' al-‘Uloom wa'l-Hukam, p. 411
Imam al-Shaafa'i said: If a man is married to the
daughter of a man and the ex-wife of her father (at
the same time), Abu Haneefah (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said that this is permissible, and we heard that
‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ja'far did that.
Al-Shaafa'i (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: There
is nothing wrong with being married to a man's ex-wife
and his daughter from another wife.
Al-Umm, 7/155
Imam Ibn Hazm said: It is permissible for a man to be
married to a woman and to the ex-wife of her father
and the ex-wife of her son and the daughter of her
paternal uncle at the same time, because there is no
text which states that this is haraam. This is the
view of Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al-Shaafa'i and Abu
Sulaymaan.
Al-Muhalla, 9/532.
Ibn Qudaamah said: There is nothing wrong with being
married to a woman who was the wife of a man and his
daughter from another wife.
Most of the scholars say that it is permissible to be
married to a woman and her stepdaughter at the same
time. ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ja'far and Safwaan ibn Umayyah
did that. This is the view of all the fuqaha' apart
from al-Hasan, ‘Ikrimah and Ibn Abi Layla; it was
narrated that they regarded it as makrooh.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"All others are lawful" [al-Nisa' 4:24]
And because they are not related, they are like two
strangers. And because marrying two closely-related
women at the same time is forbidden lest there be a
severing of family ties between those who are closely
related. There is no such relationship between these
two, so their case is different from what has been
mentioned.
Al-Mughni, 7/98
Based on this, then the wife of your wife's father is
not counted as one of your mahrams, rather she is a
"stranger" to you, so you may not shake hands with her
or be alone with her or travel with her.
And Allaah knows best.
Is the father of one's ex-husband
a mahram?
As a woman of Islaam what should my relationship
with my ex father-in-law be? Is it necessary for me to
cover in his presence?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The husband's father is considered to be a woman's
mahram even if her husband divorces her, because
Allaah says, stating who a one's mahrams are
(interpretation of the meaning):
"the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own
loins" [al-Nisa' 4:23]
In this case, the father-in-law becomes a mahram
simply as soon as the marriage contract is completed;
if a man makes a marriage contract with a woman, then
the man's father becomes a mahram for his son's wife,
even if the marriage is not consummated.
This is what the scholars called al-mahaarim
bi'l-musaaharah (mahrams by marriage).
The women who become mahrams through marriage are of
four types:
1 – Women married by one's father (i.e., father's wife
and also grandfathers' wives). Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning): "And marry not women
whom your fathers married" [al-Nisa' 4:22]
2 – One's wife's mother or grandmother: "Forbidden to
you (for marriage) are… your wives' mothers…" [al-Nisa'
4:23 – interpretation of the meaning]
3 – One's stepdaughter (a wife's daughter by a
previous husband). The stepdaughter is not a mahram
unless the man has consummated the marriage with her
mother. If he simply made a marriage contract with her
but did not consummate the marriage, then she is not a
mahram, because Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning): "your stepdaughters under your guardianship,
born of your wives to whom you have gone in — but
there is no sin on you if you have not gone in them"
[al-Nisa' 4:23 – interpretation of the meaning]
4 – One's son's wife and one's grandsons' wives,
because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own
loins" [al-Nisa' 4:23 – interpretation of the meaning]
From Jaami' Ahkaam al-Nisa' by al-‘Adawi, 5/302
Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy
on him) said:
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "… your
wives' mothers, your stepdaughters under your
guardianship, born of your wives to whom you have gone
in — but there is no sin on you if you have not gone
in them (to marry their daughters), — the wives of
your sons who (spring) from your own loins …" [al-Nisa'
4:23]
These three are mahrams by marriage. The phrase "your
wives' mothers" means that it is haraam for a man to
marry the mother or grandmother of his wife, no matter
how far the line of ascent reaches (i.e.,
great-grandmother, etc), whether that is through the
mother's line or the father's. She becomes his mahram
as soon as the marriage contract is done.
If a man makes a marriage contract with a woman, it
becomes haraam for him to marry her mother and she
becomes one of his mahrams even if the marriage with
her daughter is not consummated. If it so happens that
the daughter dies or he divorces her, then he is still
a mahram for her mother. If it so happens that
consummation of the marriage is delayed, then he is
still a mahram to her mother; she may uncover her face
in front of him and he may travel with her and be
alone with her, and there is no sin on him, because
the mother and grandmother of the woman become mahrams
as soon as the marriage contract is done, because
Allaah says "your wives' mothers", and a woman becomes
a man's wife as soon as the marriage contract is done.
The phrase "the wives of your sons who (spring) from
your own loins" means that it becomes haraam for a man
to marry the wife of his son or grandson, no matter
how far the line of descent extends, as soon as the
marriage contract is done. The wife of one's son's son
(grandson) becomes a mahram to the grandfather as soon
as the marriage contract is done. Hence if a man makes
a valid marriage contract with a woman, then he
divorces her immediately thereafter, she becomes a
mahram for his father and grandfather, no matter how
far the line of ascent reaches, because of the general
meaning of the phrase, "the wives of your sons who
(spring) from your own loins". The woman becomes
permissible for her husband as soon as the marriage
contract is done.
From al-Fataawa al-Jaami'ah li'l-Mar'ah al-Muslimah,
2/591.
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