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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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If his sister is a foster sister, is she permissible for him?

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Completion of the explanation of the noble verse:
And [also prohibited to you are all] married women except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allah upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, [provided] that you seek them [in marriage] with [gifts from] your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligation. And there is no blame upon you for what you mutually agree to beyond the obligation. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise. والمحصنات من النساء إلا ما ملكت أيمانكم كتاب الله عليكم وأحل لكم ما وراء ذلكم أن تبتغوا بأموالكم محصنين غير مسافحين فما استمتعتم به منهن فآتوهن أجورهن فريضة ولا جناح عليكم فيما تراضيتم به من بعد الفريضة إن الله كان عليما حكيما
[An-Nisa 4:24]
. Here we ask about the prohibition, because we forgot to mention it. How long does the prohibition between two sisters last? Until she dies, is divorced, or the marriage is annulled. If she is divorced, is there a distinction or not? We say: if she is divorced with a revocable divorce, it is obligatory to wait until the waiting period ends. That is, if he divorces his wife, and she has a sister, and it is a revocable divorce—and you know what a revocable divorce is from before—it is obligatory by consensus to wait until the waiting period ends. If the divorce is final, or rather, if the separation is final by three divorces, or a divorce for compensation, or annulment, must he wait until the waiting period ends, or is he allowed to marry her sister? The well-known view in the Hanbali schools is that he must wait until the waiting period ends, because she is still occupied by a right from the rights of the wife, or occupied by a right from the rights of the husband, so he must wait. Some scholars said: if the separation is final by annulment, or a divorce for compensation, or a triple divorce, it is valid for him to marry her sister, because she is not his wife now, and Allah said:
and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously وأن تجمعوا بين الأختين
[An-Nisa 4:23]
, and now there is no gathering of two sisters after he has separated from her. If someone said: there is a distinction between major and minor finality, that would have a basis. That is, it is said: if it is final by a triple divorce or a separation by mutual oath-swearing, it is permissible for him to marry her sister immediately upon separation, because he cannot take her back in this case. But if the finality is by something else, such as a divorce for compensation or annulment, he does not marry her, because in this case he can take her back with a contract. If someone said this, it would have a basis. Some of those who say it is permissible said it conditionally, but permissibility absolutely is closer to the principles. That is, if the divorce is final, whether it is of the kind that allows taking back or not, she becomes permissible, and it is permissible to marry her sister, because he will not gather two sisters. If he gathers two women who are paternal aunts? What is a paternal aunt and her brother’s daughter? Between two women who are paternal aunts? One does not gather a woman and her paternal aunt. Is the paternal aunt a sister? Yes. How is the paternal aunt a sister? That does not happen. If they become sisters, between sisters, sisters in Islam, meaning? The question now is: is it permissible to gather two paternal aunts? Because if it is prohibited between a woman and her paternal aunt, then between two paternal aunts it is even more so. Is it permissible to gather two maternal aunts? I say: is it permissible to gather by marriage, does he marry two maternal aunts, each one a maternal aunt to the other? Yes, originally he does not marry his paternal aunt, even individually. To gather two paternal aunts, meaning each one is a paternal aunt to the other, is it permissible or not? Give me the ruling? Is it permissible to gather two maternal aunts? It is not permissible. The issue is not very difficult, it is easy. I thought you were visualizing it. Two women who are paternal aunts, each one a paternal aunt to the other. Two women who are maternal aunts, each one a maternal aunt to the other? It is not permissible, it is not permissible?

The Shaykh : Okay, what is it?
The student: Her paternal aunt from her mother, and his paternal aunt from his father.

The Shaykh : No, no, by blood relation. It means leave it until next week, if Allah wills, on the condition that you do not review anything from the books of exegesis. If you review it, it will visualize it, and it is very easy, there is nothing easier than it. In any case, leave it as a riddle: how can one visualize that two women are each a paternal aunt to the other, or each a maternal aunt to the other? In any case, gathering them is forbidden. What is the evidence?
and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously وأن تجمعوا بين الأختين
[An-Nisa 4:23]
and
One should not combine a woman and her father's sister لا يجمع بين المرأة وعمتها
Sahih Muslim 1408a
. If it is not permissible to gather a woman and her brother’s daughter, then it is the same between a woman and her paternal aunt, each one a paternal aunt to the other. There is no doubt in this, the ruling has no doubt, but the visualization is what a person might find unlikely, but it is closer than the strap of his sandal. If two men marry, each one marrying the other’s mother, their daughters become paternal aunts to each other. And if each one marries the other’s daughter, their daughters become maternal aunts to each other.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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