Mahram & prohibited marriages

1Basics: permanent and temporary impediments

Scholars divide the women one may not marry into two groups:

• Permanent prohibition (tahrim mu'abbad) — arising from nasab (lineage), radha'ah (breastfeeding) and musaharah (relationship by marriage). These are the mahram: one may shake hands with them and travel with them, and contact does not break wudu' according to the Shafi'i school.
• Temporary prohibition (tahrim mu'aqqat) — impediments that fall away when their cause falls away: another man's wife, a woman in her ʿiddah, joining two sisters, exceeding four wives, a polytheist woman, and a wife divorced three times until she has validly married another man.

The core evidence is Surah an-Nisa' 4:22–24. Verse 4:23 lists most of the categories, and verse 4:24 closes with: "…and lawful to you are those beyond these…".

2Table of mahram (for men)

The table below is from the man's point of view. For women, the position is the reverse (father, son, brother, uncle, nephew, father-in-law, stepson and so on).

3Breastfeeding (radha'ah): conditions and differences between the schools

The Prophet ﷺ said that breastfeeding makes prohibited what lineage makes prohibited (Sahih al-Bukhari 2645; Sahih Muslim, Kitab ar-Radha'). However, scholars differ about its amount and conditions.

• Shafi'is: at least five separate, satisfying feeds, taking place before the baby is two lunar years old, with the milk reaching the stomach. The evidence is the hadith of Aishah r.a. about five known feeds (Sahih Muslim, Kitab ar-Radha'), and the hadith "one or two sucks do not make prohibited" (Sahih Muslim, Kitab ar-Radha').
• Hanbalis: the school's authoritative view is the same as the Shafi'is — five times.
• Hanafis and Malikis: breastfeeding, whether little or much, already creates the prohibition, based on the general wording of verse 4:23.
• Period: the majority set it within two years (Surah al-Baqarah 2:233). Abu Hanifah held that the period runs up to 30 months.

Breastfeeding by bottle (expressed milk) still counts according to the majority, because what matters is the milk reaching the stomach, not the manner of feeding.

4Musaharah (relationship by marriage): when it takes effect

Surah an-Nisa' 4:22–23 prohibits four groups through marriage:

1. Mother-in-law — prohibited as soon as the contract with her daughter is valid, even before consummation and even if they later divorce (the majority view).
2. Stepdaughter — prohibited only if her mother has been consummated with. If divorced before consummation (dukhul), the stepdaughter may be married (4:23: "…but if you have not gone in to them, there is no sin upon you…").
3. Daughter-in-law — the wife of one's own son (including a grandson), not the wife of an adopted son (see Surah al-Ahzab 33:37).
4. Stepmother — the father's wife, prohibited by the contract alone.

Zina relations: the Shafi'i school holds that zina does not create musaharah; the Hanafis and Hanbalis hold that it does. This is relevant only in rare cases but should be referred to the religious affairs office.

5The ban on joining (jam') and the limit of four

These impediments matter particularly for polygyny:

• Two sisters — prohibited from being joined as wives at the same time (an-Nisa' 4:23: "…and that you join two sisters together…"). If the wife dies, or is divorced and her ʿiddah ends, her sister may be married. During the ʿiddah of a revocable talaq (talaq raj'i) it remains prohibited.
• A woman together with her aunt — it is prohibited to join a woman with her aunt (paternal or maternal): Sahih al-Bukhari 5109; Sahih Muslim, Kitab an-Nikah. The fiqh principle: it is prohibited to join two women who, if either were taken to be a man, could not marry each other.
• The limit of four — Surah an-Nisa' 4:3 limits it to four. Ghailan ath-Thaqafi, who embraced Islam with ten wives, was ordered to choose four (narrated by at-Tirmidhi 1128; graded sahih by al-Albani). A wife under a revocable talaq who is still in her ʿiddah is counted as still within the marriage, so a man with four wives may not marry a fifth until that ʿiddah ends.

6Prohibited forms of marriage

Besides impediments in the woman herself, there are forms of contract that are in themselves invalid or prohibited:

7Women of the People of the Book (kitabiyah)

Surah al-Ma'idah 5:5 permits a Muslim man to marry chaste women of the People of the Book. However:

• The majority hold that it is permissible, though disliked (makruh) — Sayyidina Umar r.a. is reported to have discouraged it because of the risk to the children's religion and to Muslim women.
• Who counts as People of the Book today is disputed. Some Shafi'i scholars require descent from those who followed that religion before it was altered or before the Prophet ﷺ was sent; other scholars (including many Hanafi and contemporary scholars) accept present-day Jews and Christians.
• Malaysian law: Act 303 s.10 prohibits a Muslim man from marrying a non-Muslim except a kitabiyah, and s.2 defines kitabiyah narrowly by descent (the Shafi'i view). In practice, registration is almost impossible unless the partner embraces Islam.
• A Muslim woman may not marry a man of the People of the Book, by consensus.

8Misyar and nikah siri: status and risks

Misyar marriage is a contract that fulfils the pillars and conditions (wali, two witnesses, mahr), but the wife voluntarily gives up some of her rights, such as housing or the rotation of nights (giliran). The Majma' al-Fiqh al-Islami (Rabitah al-'Alam al-Islami, 2006) ruled that it is valid as a contract, but many scholars discourage it because it is easily abused and weakens the woman's position. According to many views, the wife may later reclaim the rights she gave up.

Nikah siri (secret/unregistered marriage) has two meanings:

• Without a wali or witnesses — invalid according to the majority ("there is no marriage without a wali").
• Valid in its pillars but not registered, or conducted abroad/across the border without permission — it may be valid in the eyes of the Shariah, but it breaks the law and endangers the wife and children: it becomes hard to prove lineage (nasab), maintenance (nafkah), jointly acquired matrimonial property (harta sepencarian) and inheritance rights.

9Short checklist before proposing

1. Is she a mahram through lineage, breastfeeding or marriage? Ask the family about any history of breastfeeding.
2. Is she still another man's wife or in her ʿiddah?
3. Is she a sister, aunt or niece of an existing wife?
4. Do you already have four wives (including one in a revocable ʿiddah)?
5. Is the contract planned with a fixed term, an exchange, a muhallil intention, or in secret? If so, stop.
6. For polygyny in Malaysia: has the application for the Syariah Court's permission been filed?

Sources & references