سورة النساء

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim narrates: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said regarding this verse: وَ لاَ تَنکِحُواْ مَا نَکَحَ اباؤُکُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء [And marry not women whom your fathers married]: "It is not proper for a man to marry the wife of his grandfather."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah made the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) unlawful for us by means of this verse: وَ لاَ تَنکِحُواْ مَا نَکَحَ اباؤُکُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء [And marry not women whom your fathers married].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali (peace be upon him)! I make a bequest to you, so preserve it [and act upon it], for as long as you act upon it you will remain in its goodness... O Ali (peace be upon him)! Abd al-Muttalib established five practices and customs in the time of Jahiliyya which Islam ratified [and confirmed] by the command of Allah: he forbade the wives of fathers to their sons. Allah the Mighty and Majestic likewise revealed: وَ لا تَنْکِحُوا ما نَکَحَ آباؤُکُمْ مِنَ النِّساءِ [And marry not woman whom your fathers married].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal narrates in reply to a letter he had written to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that the Imam (peace be upon him) said: "As for what you mentioned, that they consider lawful marriage with relatives whom Allah has forbidden in the Quran — they suppose that Allah forbade marriage with the wives of the Prophet on account of the prohibition of marriage with relatives, and that the most fitting thing to begin with is the magnifying of Allah's right, the honouring of the Prophet, and the exalting of his station. What He has forbidden upon his followers, including marriage with the wives of the Prophet, is in this verse: 'It is not for you to hurt the Messenger of Allah, nor ever to marry his wives after him; indeed that would be, in Allah's sight, an enormity.' (al-Ahzab/53). And in this verse He said: 'The Prophet has a greater claim on the believers than they have on themselves, and his wives are their [the believers'] mothers.' (al-Ahzab/6). So the Prophet is in the position of a father to them. Then He says: وَ لا تَنْکِحُوا ما نَکَحَ آباؤُکُمْ مِنَ النِّساءِ إِلَّا ما قَدْ سَلَفَ إِنَّهُ کانَ فاحِشَةً وَ مَقْتاً وَ ساءَ سَبِیلًا [And marry not woman whom your fathers married, except what has already passed; this surely is indecent and hateful, and it is an evil way]. So whoever holds marriage with the wives of the Prophet to be forbidden has held forbidden marriage with those whom Allah has forbidden in the Quran, and they are: mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, brothers' daughters, sisters' daughters, and those forbidden through breastfeeding, because the prohibition of these is like the prohibition of the wives of the Prophet. Anyone who holds marriage with mothers, daughters, sisters and paternal aunts forbidden on account of the prohibition of marriage with the wives of the Prophet, but considers lawful the remaining women whom Allah has forbidden, is a polytheist, for he has fabricated a religion of his own."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ لا تَنْکِحُوا ما نَکَحَ آباؤُکُمْ مِنَ النِّساءِ إِلَّا ما قَدْ سَلَفَ [And marry not woman whom your fathers married, except what has already passed]; the Arabs used to marry the wives of their fathers, and if a man had many children and this woman was not their mother [that is, she was only the father's wife], each of these children [after the father's death] would lay claim to her. So Allah made marriage with them forbidden and said: "Forbidden to you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your paternal aunts, and your maternal aunts, and the daughters of the brother, and the daughters of the sister…" (An-Nisa/23). So these are prohibited [to marry], and those higher and lower than them are also prohibited. But the one who is herself prohibited while her daughter is lawful — that is the paternal aunt and the maternal aunt. And the mothers of wives are also prohibited, while their daughters are lawful, if his first daughter, who was his wife, dies or he divorces her.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): وَ لا تَنْکِحُوا ما نَکَحَ آباؤُکُمْ مِنَ النِّساءِ [And marry not woman whom your fathers married]; when a man marries a woman and then that man dies or divorces her — whether he consummated with her or not — it is not lawful for any of that man's children to marry that woman. Likewise, no man may marry his grandfather's wife, for she is prohibited to all his children and his descendants."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): My father was asked about the sexual relations which Allah the Mighty and Majestic has forbidden in the Quran and those which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) declared forbidden in his sunnah. He said: "That which Allah the Mighty and Majestic has forbidden is thirty-four categories: seventeen of them are in the Quran and seventeen are in the sunnah. As for what is in the Quran: zina (fornication), for Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: "And do not approach zina" (Al-Isra/32); and marriage with the father's wife, for Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: وَ لا تَنْکِحُوا ما نَکَحَ آباؤُکُمْ مِنَ النِّساءِ وَ أُمَّهاتُکُمْ وَ بَناتُکُمْ وَ أَخَواتُکُمْ وَ عَمَّاتُکُمْ وَ خالاتُکُمْ وَ بَناتُ الْأَخِ وَ بَناتُ الْأُخْتِ وَ أُمَّهاتُکُمُ اللَّاتِی أَرْضَعْنَکُمْ وَ أَخَواتُکُمْ مِنَ الرَّضاعَةِ وَ أُمَّهاتُ نِسائِکُمْ وَ رَبائِبُکُمُ اللَّاتِی فِی حُجُورِکُمْ مِنْ نِسائِکُمُ اللَّاتِی دَخَلْتُمْ بِهِنَّ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَکُونُوا دَخَلْتُمْ بِهِنَّ فَلا جُناحَ عَلَیْکُمْ وَ حَلائِلُ أَبْنائِکُمُ الَّذِینَ مِنْ أَصْلابِکُمْ وَ أَنْ تَجْمَعُوا بَیْنَ الْأُخْتَیْنِ [And marry not woman whom your fathers married; and (forbidden to you are) your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your paternal aunts, and your maternal aunts, and the daughters of the brother, and the daughters of the sister, and your mothers who have suckled you, and your foster sisters, and the mothers of your wives, and your step-daughters who are in your care from your wives with whom you have consummated — but if you have not consummated with them, then there is no blame on you — and the wives of your sons who are from your own loins, and that you should have two sisters together in marriage]…"