❖ Shar‘i Ruling on Marrying the Daughter of One’s Father’s Wife ❖
Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil fī Ḍawʾ al-Qurʾān wal-Ḥadīth, Vol. 1
✿ Question:
Zayd married Hindah. Hindah had a daughter from her previous husband. Now Zayd wants to marry his son to that daughter. Is this nikāḥ permissible or not?
✿ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
The daughter of your stepmother from her previous husband is known as a rabībah in relation to your father. If your father consummated marriage with her mother, then this daughter becomes harām only for your father.
- It makes no difference whether your father raised her or not, whether she is young or old.
- The consensus of the scholars, including the four Imāms, is that she is prohibited only for the husband of her mother (your father), not for his children.
Allah says:
﴿حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الْأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الْأُخْتِ وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُم مِّنَ الرَّضَاعَةِ وَأُمَّهَاتُ نِسَائِكُمْ وَرَبَائِبُكُمُ اللَّاتِي فِي حُجُورِكُم مِّن نِّسَائِكُمُ اللَّاتِي دَخَلْتُم بِهِنَّ فَإِن لَّمْ تَكُونُوا دَخَلْتُم بِهِنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَحَلَائِلُ أَبْنَائِكُمُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ أَصْلَابِكُمْ وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا﴾
(al-Nisāʾ: 23)
In your case, this girl is your stepmother’s daughter from her previous husband. She is not your maḥram, and therefore, there is no Sharʿi restriction on marrying her.
✿ Fatwa of al-Lajnah al-Dāʾimah (Permanent Committee):
When asked about marrying the daughter of one’s father’s wife, the Committee replied:
“It is permissible for the mentioned boy to marry this girl, even if his father has married her mother.”
Allah says:
﴿وَأُحِلَّ لَكُم مَّا وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكُمْ﴾
(al-Nisāʾ: 24)
“And lawful for you are (all women) beyond those mentioned.”
This girl is not among those explicitly prohibited in the previous verse, nor is there anything in the Sunnah that prohibits it.
(See: al-Fatāwā al-Jāmiʿah lil-Marʾah al-Muslimah, 2/600)
Conclusion:It is permissible for a man to marry the daughter of his father’s wife (from her previous marriage). The prohibition of rabībah applies only to the stepfather, not to his sons.
