A husband is Mahram to his wife's paternal grandmother

2-9-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

As-Salamu ‘Alaykum. Am I Mahram (permanently unmarriageable) to my wife's paternal grandmother? Please advise. May Allaah reward you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The mother of your wife's father is permanently unmarriageable to you and you are a Mahram to her. Whoever concludes the marital contract, his wife's female ascendants, such as her mother as well as her grandmother to both sides, become permanently unmarriageable to him. Allaah Almighty says (what means): {Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers...} [Quran 4: 23]

Commenting on the verse, Al-Qurtubi said: "The mother is a name which includes all women ascendants: the direct mother, her mother and grandmothers, as well as the father's mother and his grandmothers, up to all levels."

Consuming marriage with a woman, on the other hand, makes her female descendants, down to all levels, permanently unmarriageable to him.

Allaah Knows best.