regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: “...and the wives of your sons...”

The questioner : regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: ?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct. This is the evidence for its permissibility. Your son’s wife is forbidden to you by lineage or by what? It is forbidden to me by lineage or by what? By lineage and by affinity? No, no, there is no lineage between you and her. It is forbidden by affinity. A man has a son, and his son has a wife. His son’s wife is forbidden to him, correct? What is the relationship between him and her? Affinity. And the hadith? Is it clear? Therefore, meaning, glory to Allah the Great, some scholars mentioned the consensus that the wife of a son through breastfeeding is like the wife of a son through lineage. They all argue with this hadith. And if you examine this hadith, you will find it an argument against them, because there is no lineage between a man and his son’s wife, nor between him and his father’s wife. So I say, the issue of whether it is permissible for you to marry her or not to marry her: she is considered a mahram (forbidden relative) based on the majority. The majority hold that she is not a mahram to him, and Shaykh al-Islam holds that she is a mahram to him. The majority hold that she is not permissible for him, and Shaykh al-Islam holds that she is permissible for him. Do we say that we should adopt both opinions based on caution, or is there no caution required for him? But if a questioner asked: If it is permissible for me to marry my son’s wife through breastfeeding if he divorces her? We say: Yes, if there is no one else in the world but her, marry her, there is no obstacle. But as long as there are many other women besides her, and you can get by marrying someone else, it is better and more cautious, according to the majority of scholars, to avoid it. This is not a trivial matter.

The Shaykh : Yes, and this indicates hesitation. This indicates that he was hesitant. But in reality, there is no basis for hesitation, because we say: His saying: If he owns two sisters, falls under the verse, just as includes the slave woman. He (may Allah be pleased with him) was hesitant, but the matter is clear. Even some people said: Ibn Mas’ud said: Well, and your camel from those whom your right hand possesses, would you marry her?

The Shaykh : By Allah, I do not know if it is true. But he (may Allah have mercy on him) must have had predecessors, because if he did not find predecessors, he would restrict it. When he said regarding a woman divorced three times that she must wait for one menstruation, he said: This is the implication of the text, unless there is consensus to the contrary. And here he did not make an exception.
No, it is not written. How is it written? Can you prove to me a single hadith that they said that the wife of a son through breastfeeding is like the wife of a son through lineage? You cannot prove it. Who are our predecessors in this? Are they the Companions? Let them prove this. Perhaps the Companions understood it as Shaykh al-Islam understood it and acted upon it without caring, and then those who came after them made the matter like this. But they do not say here that it has become clear now. No, they do not say that. Shaykh al-Islam is not speaking this way to the opponents. In any case, we demand from you the authenticity of the transmission, may Allah reward you. In any case, this issue: we cannot establish from the Rightly Guided Caliphs or from the jurists among the Companions that they said that the wife of a son through breastfeeding is like the wife of a son through lineage. And in that case? For example, regarding the rising above the Throne, they would have to bring us a single word from the Companions that it means “above the Throne.” Is this needed? It is not needed; it is a concept. A concept does not need us to know that it was acted upon or said. It proceeds on the original principle. And if you examine what is in the Qur’an and , then the relationship between lineage-based sonship and lineage-based fatherhood in terms of awe and respect for their women is not like the relationship of breastfeeding. Yes, I personally have a breastfeeding relationship. The important thing is, in any case, if I were to advise you, the best thing we study and the most honorable thing we study, by Allah, is tafsir (exegesis). It is the capital and everything else. And in it, if we wanted, we could cover all disciplines. If you wish, we can do grammar. If you wish, we can bring rhetorical points. If we wish, we can bring principles of jurisprudence, fiqh. But we do not like to prolong it, because we have now perhaps two years of studying and have not yet reached tafsir. Yes, two years or more. The important thing is, in any case, we do not want to prolong it once or twice. But I want you to advise your brothers to be diligent in tafsir. The Companions did not go beyond ten verses until they learned them and the knowledge and practice contained in them. We have prolonged, for example, the issues that need clarification.