Q372 :Is it permissible for a Muslim to marry the
sister of his father’s second wife? Needless to say, the man is the son
of his father’s first wife. May I add that people in our area have
spoken much about this proposed marriage with some of them opposing it
while others saying that it is perfectly in order. Please
advise.
A372 : Any woman who gets married to one’s father is
forbidden for that person to marry, whether her marriage to his father
ends up in divorce or is terminated by his father’s death. The
prohibition on the marriage of a Muslim with his stepmother is
permanent. Allah says in the Qur’an: “Do not marry women whom your
fathers have previously married – although what is passed is passed.
Indeed, this is a shameful deed, and a harmful thing, and an evil way.”
(4:22). A stepmother is related to a person by the fact that she gets
married to his father. That is sufficient to make her forbidden for him
to marry after her marriage to his father is terminated. However, her
relatives are not related to him in any way. Therefore, it is perfectly
permissible for a Muslim to marry his stepmother’s sister or daughter
[who is not by your father] or any other relative of hers. [When we
talk of a stepmother, we exclude any person who is your aunt prior to
her marrying your father.] If you wish to know the women a Muslim is
not allowed to marry, you need only refer to Verses 22-24 of Surah 4,
entitled “Women”. Apart from these, you are not allowed to marry women
who are in the same relationship to you as this list, if this
relationship is created by your being breast-fed by a woman other than
your mother. You may not marry that woman because she is your mother
through breast feeding, and similarly her daughters and sisters are
your sisters and aunts respectively. You need to extend this
relationship to other women and you have a full list of those you may
not marry because they relate to you through breast feeding. In
addition, a Muslim may not marry a woman whom he had [permanently]
divorced three times unless she gets married to someone else in the
normal way and her marriage is subsequently terminated by her husband’s
death or her being divorced in a perfectly normal way.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )