The Prohibition of the Mother’s Paternal Aunt and Maternal Aunt

The questioner:
Is my aunt, my mother’s paternal aunt and maternal aunt, a mahram to me?

The Shaykh:
How?

The questioner:
Are my mother’s paternal aunt and maternal aunt considered mahrams to me?

The Shaykh:
By “paternal aunt” (‘ammah), they mean the one they call an aunt even if she is distant. So if she is the sister of her father, she is also his paternal aunt. The mother’s paternal aunt and maternal aunt are the paternal aunt and maternal aunt of the son. Yes. However, if he calls her an aunt merely as a form of respect and she is not a relative, that does not make her a mahram. Yes.