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What is the ruling on a man marrying the daughter of a woman he committed adultery with, and is this marriage valid according to Sharia?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Malik, in one of his views, along with Ash-Shafi'i and some scholars, holds that marriage to the aforementioned girl is permissible, and this is the preferred view because the unlawful does not make the lawful unlawful. Al-Baji summarized the different scholarly opinions on this issue, stating that Malik said in Al-Muwatta' that fornication does not prohibit anything, and this is also the view of Ash-Shafi'i, Ibn Abbas, Urwah, and Abu Thawr. However, Ibn Al-Qasim reported from Malik that if a man commits fornication with his wife's mother or her daughter, he must separate from his wife. This is also the view of Abu Hanifah, Ata', Ash-Sha'bi, and Ahmad. Ash-Shafi'i clarified his argument by stating that Allah only prohibited based on the sanctity of the lawful as a form of deterrence, and that fornication is a sin that does not make the lawful unlawful. Therefore, the marriage is valid if its conditions and pillars are fulfilled.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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