Relations Prohibited for Marriage

وَلَا تَنكِحُوا مَا نَكَحَ آبَاؤُكُمْ مِنْ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَمَقْتًا وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الْأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الْأُخْتِ وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمْ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ مِنْ الرَّضَاعَةِ وَأُمَّهَاتُ نِسَائِكُمْ وَرَبَائِبُكُمْ اللَّاتِي فِي حُجُورِكُمْ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ اللَّاتِي دَخَلْتُمْ بِهِنَّ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُونُوا دَخَلْتُمْ بِهِنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَحَلَائِلُ أَبْنَائِكُمْ وَحَلَائِلُ أَبْنَائِكُمْ الَّذِينَ مِنْ أَصْلَابِكُمْ وَأَنْ تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنْ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ (4: 22-24)

And marry not women whom your fathers married – except what has been done in the past: it was shameful and odious – an abominable practice indeed. Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your maternal and paternal aunts, the daughters of your brothers and sisters; your mothers who have suckled you and your sisters through fosterage. [Similarly], the mothers of your wives, your step-daughters raised under you born of your wives with whom you have lain – no offence if you have not lain with their mothers, and the wives of your real sons, and two sisters in wedlock at the same time, except for what has already happened. God indeed is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Also [prohibited are] women already married, except those whom your right hands possess; this is a written obligation upon you from God. (4:22-24)

The above quoted verse enlists women with whom marriage has been prohibited. The list begins with the step mother and ends with women who are married to someone. In between these two, the prohibited women mentioned are based on the three bases of relationship: Lineage, Fosterage and Marriage.

In certain sections of the Arab jahiliyyah, there was a tradition according to which a son inherited the wife of his father and he would feel nothing wrong with inheriting her. The Qur’an refers to it as open lewdness and a shameful and an abominable practice. Consequently, it prohibited this practice and declared that whatever happened in the past shall be overlooked but in future no Muslim should perpetrate such an indecent act.

Similar is the case of the woman who is married to someone. No person has the right to marry her unless she is legally divorced from her husband. It is obvious that such a practice totally negates the very reason for which the institution of family has been set up. Consequently, it has been prohibited by the Almighty. However, women of those times who were made captives in battles were exempted from this rule. For them, the rule was that if they wanted to marry, then in spite of being already married they could marry. This was because as soon as they married anew their previous marriage stood annulled automatically as per the traditions of those times. The words إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ show that the Qur’an has also approved this exception so that if such women wanted to become part of the Muslim society, they could easily do so.

The matter of the remaining prohibitions shall now be taken up.