I am a man in my thirty-fifth year, and I have married a woman who is fifteen years old. I married her when I was twenty-eight.

The questioner : I am a man in my thirty-fifth year, and I have married a woman who is fifteen years old. I married her when I was twenty-eight. Please note that this woman had previously been married to another man, but she stayed with him for only three months and did not bear him any children. I married her immediately after her divorce from him, and she has been living with me for seven years. She has given me five children: three daughters and two sons. Please note that my life with her is very happy and free of problems, and that this woman is religious. However, the problem is that my relatives and colleagues have criticized me for this and mocked me by saying: that I married a woman who had been married before. And they tell me: that my marriage is still a burden on my conscience. I ask you, may Allah reward you, to advise me on what you see fit. Is it permissible for me to marry another woman, meaning a young woman, and leave her, or to marry another woman while keeping her? Please inform us, may Allah reward you?

The Shaykh : We inform you that your marriage to this woman, who had been married before you, is permissible, and there is no blame on you for it. Those who blame you or criticize you are the ones who should be blamed and criticized, and they have no right to interfere or intervene between a man and his wife. They are like those about whom Allah said: My advice to you is to stay with your wife as long as you are both happy and have children between you, and not to aspire to another wife for the reason that the ignorant among those who criticized you criticized you for. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most noble of creation and the most God-fearing of them, and the most devoted in worship to Him. The first woman he married was a woman who had been married before, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (may Allah be pleased with her). In fact, all of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were women who had been married before, except Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). So there is no blame or defect in a person marrying a woman who had been married to a husband before him. As long as you are happy with your family, hold on to them and do not aspire to others. As for a man marrying another woman in addition to his wife, in terms of the marriage itself, there is nothing wrong with it. A person may marry one, two, three, or four women. However, marrying in order to avoid the blame of these ignorant people has no basis. Before I conclude my answer to this question, I would like to point out a phrase in his question, which is his saying: "and I married her immediately after her divorce from him." The apparent meaning of this phrase is that he married her before she completed her waiting period from her first husband. If that is the reality, then he must renew the marriage contract, because the marriage of a woman in her waiting period is invalid by explicit text and scholarly consensus. Allah the Exalted said: The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) have reached consensus on the invalidity of the marriage of a woman in her waiting period from another man. If this phrase is intended to mean "immediately after her divorce from him," meaning after the completion of her waiting period, then the marriage is valid and there is no issue with it. I hope the brother questioner pays attention to this matter. If it is assumed that the first possibility is the reality, and that he married her immediately after the divorce, before the waiting period ended, then the contract must be renewed as I said. His children who came from this woman are legitimate children, because these children came from intercourse based on a doubt. The scholars have mentioned that children are attributed to the man who had intercourse based on a doubt, whether the doubt was in the contract or in the belief.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.
A message arrived from the listener Humayd al-Samarrai. He says in his message: Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. I would like to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to the honorable scholars. I have some inquiries, and I ask the honorable Shaykh to answer them.