Marrying the Stepdaughter of One's Wife Print
Kitabun Nikah [ The book of Marriage ] - Remarry

Marrying the Stepdaughter of One's Wife

Question: A man wants to marry the daughter of his wife's former husband Can this be done?

Answer: He may marry her.

An Objection to the Above Fatwa

Question: Hahmid married a woman who brought along with her a daughter from her previous marriage. They were later divorced, but Haamid sustained a relationship with her daughter. The two then even had a child. Was it permissible for Haamid to have a relationship with this girl when he had consummated his marriage with her mother and the Qur'aan states:

"(Forbidden for you are) ...those step-daughters of yours (girls who are born to your wife from another man) who are in your care and with whose mothers you have had intercourse (with whose mothers your marriage has been consummated). lf you have not had intercourse with them (you have not consummated your marriage with the mothers of these step-daughters), then there is no sin on you (should you marry their daughters after divorcing the mothers)."

However, a previous Fatwa of yours stated that the two can be married, which seems contradictory to the verse above. Please clarify.

Answer: The previous Fatwa referred to a man marrying the daughter of his wife's previous husband, whom he (the previous husband) got from another wife. There is therefore no relationship between the man and the daughter he wishes to marry It will be Haraam for him to marry any daughter that his wife gave birth to, though from another husband. The two situations are therefore different. Haamid can therefore not marry his wife's daughter and the two must be separated.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.3