The benefits of the verse: “And do not marry those [women] whom your fathers married, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, it was an immorality and an abomination, and evil as a way.”

Among the benefits of this noble verse is the prohibition of marrying a woman whom a father, whether near or distant, has married, based on His saying: . Another benefit is that if such a marriage contract were to take place, it would be defective, based on His saying: and on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . The one who marries a woman whom his fathers married has done a deed that is not in accordance with the command of Allah and His Messenger. Another benefit is that a woman with whom one’s father committed unlawful sexual intercourse is permissible [to marry], from where is this derived? From His saying: . Unlawful sexual intercourse is not marriage, contrary to the well-known view among the Hanbalis that a woman with whom the father had intercourse, even through unlawful sexual intercourse, is forbidden to the son. There is no evidence for this; rather, the evidence is for the opposite, in His saying: . It is not valid to analogize it to marriage, because marriage is a valid legal contract in the Shari'ah, whereas unlawful sexual intercourse is a vile act that is hateful to Allah and not prescribed by Allah, so it is not valid to analogize it to marriage. Most of this is that some of them said this even regarding sodomy—may Allah protect us from it—meaning, for example, if a son committed sodomy with a person, the ruling would be like if he had committed unlawful sexual intercourse with his mother or his sister—the sister of that person—and we will mention this at the end for illustration. Another benefit is the prohibition of marrying the wives of fathers, even if no intercourse or seclusion took place. The reason for this is that the term "marriage" applies based on the contract alone, for if a man contracts a woman, it is true to say that he married her. Another benefit is that a sin committed before knowledge does not incur the blame of the doer, based on His saying: . This is a legal principle that the Shari'ahs do not impose before knowledge, as established by the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him). The Shari'ahs do not impose before knowledge, neither in obligation nor in prohibition. Accordingly, if a person becomes Muslim in a remote desert and does not know the obligation of fasting Ramadan, we do not obligate him to make up the fasting he missed, because the obligation did not reach him, so the argument was not established against him regarding it. Similarly, regarding prayer, if he did not pray, or prayed while in a state of major ritual impurity, or without ablution, or without tranquility, he is not obligated to make up what he missed. The evidence for this—meaning he has many proofs—includes the hadith of the one whose prayer was defective, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not obligate him to make up what had passed, even though he said: . He only ordered him to repeat the current prayer because he is required to perform it in its time. Another benefit is that the mercy of Allah preceded His anger, where He forgave the sins that had passed, based on His saying: . This is a known principle from His saying: and from His saying in the book He wrote with Him, under the Throne or above the Throne: . Based on this principle, forgiveness is closer to safety than punishment. For this reason, it was reported from some of the Companions, and I think it was 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, that he said: “It is more beloved to me to err in forgiveness than to err in punishment”. Based on this is an important principle: if scholars disagree on an issue between what is forbidden and what is permissible, and the evidence of both sides is equal, we take the easier, the simpler, based on this principle that His mercy preceded His anger, and that Allah wants ease for His servants and does not want hardship for them. This is two. And that the original state is the innocence of the conscience. This is three. Another benefit is that marrying those with whom marriage is forbidden is more severe than unlawful sexual intercourse, based on His saying: . And regarding marriage, He said: and He did not say: “and an abomination.” For this reason, many scholars held that one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman from those with whom marriage is forbidden, or marries her, is stoned to death, even if he is not a married man, because marrying those with whom marriage is forbidden is greater than unlawful sexual intercourse and more severe. Another benefit is the ugliness of this path, based on His saying: . Another benefit is the clarification of the favor of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, upon us in this Shari'ah, where He kept us from following the bad, blameworthy paths, based on His saying: . It is derived from its opposite that following Islam or the Islamic methodology is the best of paths, the most excellent, and the most beautiful. The issue I mentioned to you, the issue of sodomy, is that some scholars said: sodomy follows the course of marriage, so if one commits sodomy with a boy, his mother—the mother of the boy—is forbidden to him, and the daughter of the boy is forbidden to him. This is undoubtedly an error, a great error. So the conclusion in this issue is that it is not forbidden for a person to marry a woman with whom his father committed unlawful sexual intercourse, nor a woman with whom his son committed unlawful sexual intercourse, because that is not a legal marriage in the Shari'ah, so it is not considered.