A man said he passed by a garden and found a man with ten women in it, so he said to him, “Are you not ashamed of that?” The man replied, “May Allah forgive you, my brother, these are all”
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The questioner : A man said he passed by a garden and found a man with ten women in it, so he said to him, “Are you not ashamed of that?” The man replied, “May Allah forgive you, my brother, these are all mahram (relatives one may not marry) to me.” He asked, “How so?” The man answered, “Three of them are my aunts, three are my sisters, three are my daughters, and the tenth is the mother of all of them and my wife, and this is in a lawful manner. Please answer this question and clarify it according to the Shari'ah, and thank you?”
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. After that, I hope that my brother Sulayman, as he promised or as he wished, that this will be the last question directed to this program. I hope that this comes to pass and that nothing like it is repeated to this program, because this program is, in reality, for informing listeners of practical matters from which they benefit by their resolution, or matters that frequently occur from which they benefit when someone is about to engage in them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for riddles, they are difficult to understand and to explain, and they are not brought up except for students to sharpen their minds. However, since you have brought this question to us, we seek the help of Allah the Exalted in answering it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : We would like listeners to pay attention to the form of the issue, even though the benefit from it is little. Its form is that we assume a woman named Fatimah has two daughters. The father of a man called—meaning this man is called—Muhammad married one of Fatimah’s two daughters. His grandfather on his mother’s side married one of the two daughters, meaning one of Fatimah’s two daughters.
His father had three daughters from his wife, so they became Muhammad’s sisters. His grandfather on his mother’s side had three daughters from his wife as well, so they became Muhammad’s aunts. Then Muhammad married Fatimah, and she bore him three daughters, so they became Muhammad’s daughters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So, three women are his aunts, three women are his sisters, and three women are his daughters. This Fatimah is the direct mother of her daughters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the grandmother of his aunts and his sisters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And on this basis, she is the direct mother of three of these women, and the mother of the mother of six of these women, and she is also the wife of Muhammad.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The solution to this riddle is finished. If the questioner or the one posing the riddle added three more to be Muhammad’s paternal aunts, that would be by Fatimah having a third daughter whom his grandfather on his father’s side marries, and she bears three daughters as well. Then he would have thirteen women: he would say to three of them, “They are my daughters,” to three, “They are my maternal aunts,” to three, “They are my paternal aunts,” to three, “They are my sisters,” and to the thirteenth, “She is my wife,” and she is the mother of all of them.
The questioner : Yes, so you have added to the question or the riddle of the listener Jabir al-Mahmud, which is the three paternal aunts.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This is a small message or note that reached us from a listener who included several questions in it.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. After that, I hope that my brother Sulayman, as he promised or as he wished, that this will be the last question directed to this program. I hope that this comes to pass and that nothing like it is repeated to this program, because this program is, in reality, for informing listeners of practical matters from which they benefit by their resolution, or matters that frequently occur from which they benefit when someone is about to engage in them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for riddles, they are difficult to understand and to explain, and they are not brought up except for students to sharpen their minds. However, since you have brought this question to us, we seek the help of Allah the Exalted in answering it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : We would like listeners to pay attention to the form of the issue, even though the benefit from it is little. Its form is that we assume a woman named Fatimah has two daughters. The father of a man called—meaning this man is called—Muhammad married one of Fatimah’s two daughters. His grandfather on his mother’s side married one of the two daughters, meaning one of Fatimah’s two daughters.
His father had three daughters from his wife, so they became Muhammad’s sisters. His grandfather on his mother’s side had three daughters from his wife as well, so they became Muhammad’s aunts. Then Muhammad married Fatimah, and she bore him three daughters, so they became Muhammad’s daughters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So, three women are his aunts, three women are his sisters, and three women are his daughters. This Fatimah is the direct mother of her daughters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the grandmother of his aunts and his sisters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And on this basis, she is the direct mother of three of these women, and the mother of the mother of six of these women, and she is also the wife of Muhammad.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The solution to this riddle is finished. If the questioner or the one posing the riddle added three more to be Muhammad’s paternal aunts, that would be by Fatimah having a third daughter whom his grandfather on his father’s side marries, and she bears three daughters as well. Then he would have thirteen women: he would say to three of them, “They are my daughters,” to three, “They are my maternal aunts,” to three, “They are my paternal aunts,” to three, “They are my sisters,” and to the thirteenth, “She is my wife,” and she is the mother of all of them.
The questioner : Yes, so you have added to the question or the riddle of the listener Jabir al-Mahmud, which is the three paternal aunts.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This is a small message or note that reached us from a listener who included several questions in it.