Excerpt taken from Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani’s book: "Ahkām wa Masā’il – In the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah"❖ Question:
If a man’s wife passes away, is it permissible for him to marry her niece (i.e., her brother’s daughter or sister’s daughter) afterward?
❖ Answer:
It is prohibited (ḥarām) for a man to marry a woman along with her paternal or maternal niece at the same time. However, if the wife is no longer in the marriage — whether due to death, divorce, or annulment (khul‘) — then it becomes permissible to marry her niece thereafter.
This prohibition only applies to having both women in one marriage simultaneously.
✦ Evidence from the Sunnah:
Narrated Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
❝A woman should not be married together with her paternal aunt, nor with her maternal aunt.❞
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Nikāḥ, Hadith 5109]
[Sahih Muslim 1408]
Narrated Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه:
❝I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbid two kinds of marriages:
That a man marries a woman and her paternal aunt at the same time, and that he marries a woman and her maternal aunt at the same time.❞
[Sunan Ibn Mājah: Book of Marriage, Hadith 1930]
[Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 61414]
Narrated Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه again:
❝The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prohibited marrying a woman along with her paternal aunt, or a paternal aunt while the niece is present. He also prohibited marrying a woman along with her maternal aunt, or a maternal aunt while the niece is present. Similarly, he prohibited marrying the younger (niece) when the elder (aunt) is present, or the elder when the younger is present.❞
[Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhī: 1126]
Imām al-Tirmidhī commented on this narration:
❝The ḥadīth of Ibn ‘Abbās and Abū Hurayrah is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ, and this is the practice of the majority of scholars.❞
Narrated Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī رضي الله عنه:
❝The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: A woman should not be married along with her paternal or maternal aunt.❞
[Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1931]
[Musnad Abū Ya‘lā: 7225]
Conclusion:
These authentic narrations clearly establish that:
- A woman and her paternal aunt, or
- A woman and her maternal aunt,
cannot be in the same marital bond simultaneously.
However, if one of them is no longer in the marriage (due to death, divorce, or khul‘), then marrying the other becomes permissible according to Sharī‘ah.
