Who Are The Women Who Are Forbidden To Marry?

Who are the women who are forbidden to marry?

Women who are forbidden to marry in Islam are mentioned in verses and hadiths and it is clearly stated that it is halal to marry other women.

While referring to the women to whom matrimony is haram, the Holy Qur’an firstly prohibits marrying to step mother, which was a type of nikah in the age of ignorance, with the following verse, “And do not marry those [women] whom your fathers married, except what has already occurred. Indeed, it was an immorality and hateful [to Allah] and was evil as a way” (Nisa, 4/22). The following verse expresses the women to whom it is haram to marry due to bloodline, milk kinship, and relatives by marriage, “Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father’s sisters, your mother’s sisters, your brother’s daughters, your sister’s daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives’ mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful” (Nisa, 4/23). After that, it is expressed that marrying to married woman is haram, “And [also prohibited to you are all] married women except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you” (Nisa, 4/24). Moreover, it is also cited in the Holy Qur’an that a woman who waits for iddah period may not marry to another person (Baqarah, 2/235), that although it is good to be married to one woman principally, a man may marry to up to four women if he complies with its conditions and one may not be married to more than four women at the same time (Nisa, 4/3). Besides this, marrying to polytheists is prohibited for both man and woman (Mumtahanah, 60/10); however, Muslim men are permitted to marry to chaste women among the People of the Book (Ma‘idah, 5/5).

The expression of, “Prohibited to you (for marriage) are: sisters”, which is stated in 23rd verse of surah Nisa, was explained with the hadith of, “A woman and her paternal aunt should not be married to the same man; and similarly, a woman and her maternal aunt should not be married to the same man,” (Bukhari, Nikah 27; Muslim, Nikah 37-38) and the expression of, “Prohibited to you (for marriage) are: foster-mothers (who gave you suck) and foster-sisters”, which is stated in the same verse, was explained with the hadith of, “Foster suckling relations make all those things unlawful which are unlawful through corresponding birth (blood) relations” (Bukhari, Nikah 20; Muslim, Ra’d 1; Ibn Majah, Nikah 34) and thereby the scope of the judgments mentioned in the verses was expanded.