Ala-Maududi
(4:23) Forbidden to you are your mothers,[34] your daughters,[35] your
sisters,[36] your father’s sisters and your mother’s sisters, your brother’s
daughters and your sister’s daughters,[37] your milk-mothers, your
milk-sisters,[38] the mothers of your wives,[39] and the stepdaughters –
who are your foster-children,[40] born of your wives with whom you have consummated
the marriage; but if you have not consummated the marriage with them, there will be no blame
upon you (if you marry their daughters).
It is also forbidden for you to take the wives of the sons who have sprung from your
loins[41] and to take two sisters together in marriage,[42] although what
is past is past. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.[43]
34. The word ‘mother’ applies to one’s step-mother as well as to one’s real mother. Hence the
prohibition extends to both. This injunction also includes prohibition of the grandmother, both
paternal and maternal. There is disagreement on whether a woman with whom a father has had an
unlawful sexual relationship is prohibited to his son or not. There are some among the early
authorities who do not believe in such prohibition. But there are others who go so far as to say
that a woman whom a father has touched with sexual desire becomes prohibited to the son.
Likewise, there is disagreement among the scholars of the early period of Islam in regard to a
woman with whom a person has had an illegitimate sexual relationship whether she is prohibited
to his father or not. In the same way there has been disagreement in regard to a man with whom a
mother or daughter has had an illegitimate sexual relationship, whether or not marriage with him
is prohibited for both the mother and daughter. (See Jassas, vol. 2, pp. 113 ff., and Bidayat
al-Mujtahid, vol. 2, pp. 33 f. – Ed.) There is a great deal of formal, legal discussion on this
point. But even a little reflection makes it evident that if a man marries a woman who is at
once the object of the desire of either his father or his son, and if a man marries a woman and
is attracted to either her mother or daughter, this militates against the requirements of a
righteous society. The spirit of the Law is opposed to the legal hair-splitting which makes a
distinction between sexual relations that take place either within the marital framework or
outside it, and between either touching or looking with desire and so on. The plain fact is that
if the sexual passions of both the father and the son are focused on the same woman, or
conversely, if the sexual passions of both the mother and daughter are focused on the same man,
this situation is full of evil and mischief for family life and the Law can never tolerate it.
The Prophet (peace be on him) has said: ‘Whoever looks at the genitals of a woman, both the
mother and daughter of that woman become prohibited for him.’ In another tradition, the Prophet
(peace-be on him) said: ‘God will not even care to look at the person who casts his look at the
genitals of a woman as well as those of her daughter.’ (Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur’an, vol. IV, p.
141.) These traditions bring out the intent of the Law very clearly.
35. The injunction with regard to daughters applies to grand-daughters on both the paternal and
maternal sides as well. There is disagreement, however, whether a daughter born of an
illegitimate relationship becomes prohibited or not. According to Abu Hanifah, Malik and Ahmad
b. Hanbal such a daughter is prohibited in the same way as a daughter born in wedlock; Shafi’i,
however, is of the opinion that such daughters are not prohibited. The very idea, however, of
marrying a girl who was born of one’s own semen would be repulsive to any decent person.
36. This applies to full sisters as well as to half-sisters.
37. In all these relationships, no distinction is made between the full and step-relationships.
The sister of a man’s father or mother, whether full sister or step-sister, is prohibited to
him. Likewise, the daughters of a man’s brothers and sisters are prohibited just as if they were
one’s own daughters. (See Bidayat al-Mujtahid, vol. 2, pp. 31 ff. – Ed.)
38. There is consensus among Muslims that if a boy or girl is breast-fed by a woman, that woman
attains the status of mother, and her husband the status of father. It is forbidden to marry
relatives through milk where the degree of relationship is such as /to constitute a bar to
marriage in the case of blood-relations. The basis of this rule is the saying of the Prophet
(peace be on him): ‘Whatever is rendered prohibited by descent (nasab) is likewise rendered
prohibited by breast-feeding.’ (Bukhari, ‘Shahadat’, 4, 7,13,14; Muslim, ‘Rida’ah’, 1-14,26-30;
etc. – Ed.) According to Abu Hanifah and Malik prohibition is established if a child suckles
milk from a woman’s breast equal to that minimum quantity which nullifies fasting. But according
to Ahmad b. Hanbal, it is established by three sucklings; and according to Shafi’i by five.
There is also disagreement about the maximum age up to which breast-feeding leads to prohibition
of marriage with the woman concerned. In this connection, jurists have expressed the following
opinions:
(1) Suckling is of legal significance only when it occurs before a child has been weaned, and
when milk is its main source of nourishment. If a child suckles from a woman’s breast after
having been weaned, this is legally no different from drinking anything else. This is the
opinion of Umm Salamah and Ibn ‘Abbas, and a tradition to this effect has also been reported
from ‘Ali. This is also the view of al-Zuhri, Hasan al-Basri, Qatadah, ‘Ikrimah and Awza’i.
(2) Prohibition is established by breast-feeding during the first two years of a child’s life.
This is the view of ‘Umar, Ibn Mas’ud, Abu Hurayrah and ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Umar. Among jurists,
Shafi’i, Ahmad b. Hanbal, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Shaybani and Sufyan al-Thawri
followed this view; and according to a report, so did Abu Hanifah. Malik largely followed this
view, but he was of the opinion that if breast-feeding took place a month or two after the age
of two, the prohibition would still remain in effect.
(3) The generally-reported opinion of Abu Hanifah and Zufar is that a bar to marriage is created
by breast-feeding up to an age limit of two and a half years.
(4) Some other jurists are of the opinion that the prohibition comes into effect irrespective of
the age when breast-feeding takes place. This opinion is based on the view that the effective
cause of the prohibition is a woman’s milk, rather than the age of the person fed. Hence, even
in the case of an older person, the same prohibition would apply as in the case of an infant.
This is the view of ‘A’ishah and this has been supported on the basis of a tradition from ‘Ali,
which is presumably .authentic. Among the jurists this opinion has been followed by ‘Urwah b.
al-Zubayr, ‘Ata’, Layth b. Sa’d and Ibn Hazm. (On this subject see Jassas, vol. 2, pp. 124 ff.;
and Ibn Rushd, Biddyat al-Mujtahid, vol. 2,’pp’. 35 ff. -Ed.)
39. There is disagreement about prohibition in respect of the mother of the woman with whom one
has merely contracted marriage (without having consummated it). Abu Hanifah, Malik, Ahmad b.
Hanbal and Shafi’i believe that such a relationship is prohibited. ‘Ali, however, holds the
opinion that unless the marriage has been consummated the mother of one’s wife does not become
prohibited.
40. The prohibitive restriction in regard to such girls is not based on the consideration of
their having been brought up in the house of a step-father. The reference to the child’s
upbringing in his house points to the delicacy of this relationship. The jurists are almost
unanimous that it is prohibited to marry one’s step-daughter irrespective of whether or not she
has been raised in the step-father’s house.
41. This restriction has been added because the widow of one’s adopted son is, according to
Islam, not prohibited. It is only the wife of one’s own son who is prohibited. Likewise, the
wives of grandsons (paternal and maternal) are prohibited to grandfathers (on both the mother’s
and father’s side).
42. The Prophet (peace be on him) has taught that it is prohibited for a man to combine in
marriage an aunt – whether maternal or paternal – with her niece. The guiding principle is that
it is prohibited to have as wives two women who, if one were male, would be prohibited to each
other. (See Bidayat al-Mujtahid, vol. 2, p. 41 – Ed.)
43. This is an assurance that God would not call them to task for such misdeeds of the Jahiliyah
period as combining two sisters in matrimony, provided they abstained from doing so in the
future. See also (Surah An-Nisa, ayat
22) note 32 For this reason a man with two sisters as his wives is required to divorce
one of them when he embraces Islam.
