Marrying the Daughter of One's Stepmother
Question
A man married a woman who had a daughter from her ex-husband. Is it allowed in Islam for this man's son to marry the daughter of his father's new wife (from her previous husband)?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, we commend your pursuit of knowledge and your keenness to seek what is lawful and avoid what is not. We earnestly implore Allah to bless your efforts in this honorable way.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, we commend your pursuit of knowledge and your keenness to seek what is lawful and avoid what is not. We earnestly implore Allah to bless your efforts in this honorable way.
It is permissible for a son to marry the daughter of his stepmother from another man than his own father as long as she there is no other reason to prevent the marriage like fosterage. The girl in this case is neither full nor half sister.
In his response to the question in point, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:
"Yes, it is permissible for a man to marry to daughter of his father's wife, if this daughter was born to her from a previous husband, because there is no kinship between these two young people. This young man is not a mahram (unmarriageable) to that young girl. Allah mentioned in the Qur'an the women who are forbidden for marriage and then He said, "Lawful unto you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" (an-Nisa': 24)"
Here, we'd like to cite the Fatwa of the well-known Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, regarding this issue. He states the following:
"Yes, this marriage is permissible and we have witnessed many examples of this marriage. In this case, the man is not marrying his sister as the girl is not his full sister or even half sister from paternal or maternal sides. The daughter from his step mother (i.e. born to her from a previous husband) is not linked to the man in question either through blood or fosterage. This marriage is valid and correct as it does not involve any legal reason for the prohibition of marriage."
