Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And do not marry those [women] your fathers have married”
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Question:
Umm Ziyad says: I hope you will give us good news about the noble verse from Surat al-Nisa. Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:22].
Answer:
Yes. These are the first of the prohibited women for marriage whom Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, mentioned in Surat al-Nisa. He said:[An-Nisa 4:22], meaning do not marry the women with whom your fathers contracted marriage, merely the contract. If a father contracts a marriage with a woman, she becomes forbidden to his sons by this noble verse.
Except for what has already passed, meaning what occurred in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), when they used to marry their fathers’ wives. When Islam came, it forbade that absolutely. The scholars agreed, with a definitive consensus, on the prohibition of a father’s wife and a grandfather’s wife. Whoever considers it permissible is a disbeliever. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a man to a man who had married his father’s wife; he sent someone to kill her. Is this among the prohibited women in marriage? And his saying “except for what has already passed” means what occurred in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance.
Umm Ziyad says: I hope you will give us good news about the noble verse from Surat al-Nisa. Allah the Exalted said:
And do not marry those [women] whom your fathers married, except what has already occurred
وَلَا تَنكِحُوا مَا نَكَحَ آبَاؤُكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَAnswer:
Yes. These are the first of the prohibited women for marriage whom Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, mentioned in Surat al-Nisa. He said:
And do not marry those [women] whom your fathers married
وَلَا تَنكِحُوا مَا نَكَحَ آبَاؤُكُمExcept for what has already passed, meaning what occurred in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), when they used to marry their fathers’ wives. When Islam came, it forbade that absolutely. The scholars agreed, with a definitive consensus, on the prohibition of a father’s wife and a grandfather’s wife. Whoever considers it permissible is a disbeliever. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a man to a man who had married his father’s wife; he sent someone to kill her. Is this among the prohibited women in marriage? And his saying “except for what has already passed” means what occurred in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance.
Source
شرح ثلاثة الأصول وأدلتها، الأصول الثلاثة من أهم المسائل التي تتعلق بالتوحيد وحقوقه — islamhouse.com (1:18:44)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.