Title

Can I marry my father’s second wife?

Question

I am in a relationship with a woman who was supposed to be my father’s second wife. My father divorced her a long time back and now I have an intimate relationship with her. We both want to get married now. I wanted to know whether we can marry each other according to the Shari’āh law or not.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

It is Harām (forbidden) upon you to marry any woman to whom your father is currently married to or was previously married to.[i]  The Āyah of the Qurān is very clear regarding this issue:

وَلَا تَنْكِحُوا مَا نَكَحَ آبَاؤُكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَمَقْتًا وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًاO  )النساء: 22(

And do not marry those [women] whom your fathers had married, except what has passed. Indeed, it is indeed an immorality and detestable [to Allah ] and was it is an evil practice. (4:22)

Marrying the legally wedded wife of the father has been declared unlawful in this Āyah. The fact that the father has married a woman is enough to forbid the son from entering into a marriage with that woman.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mawlana Abdul Hannan Nizami,
Student Darul Iftaa
USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Husain Kadodia.
www.daruliftaa.net