Is My Son a Mahram of His Father’s New Wife?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I am divorced and have an young son. The father of my son ( my ex-husband) got married and asked my son to call his wife his mother. Which is fine with me because she is like a mother and my son should respect her. The only concern I have is that whether my son is a mahram to the wife of my ex-husband?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

Yes, the son is from the unmarriageable kin (mahram) of his father’s wife.

Sons cannot marry their father’s wives, and consequently, they are considered to be from their unmarriageable kin. Allah Most High says, “And marry not those women whom your fathers married.” [4:22]

[Mawsili, al-Ikhtiyar li Ta‘lil al-Mukhtar]

Please also see: Who is Mahram

And Allah Most High knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.