What is the basis for prohibiting combining a woman with her paternal or maternal aunt?

Chapter on What is Prohibited to Marry and Combining Between Them and Other Matters

Al-Mughni

Book of Marriage

Book 35 · Issue 10 · Bab 2

Open in Qurani

Primary text

The prohibition of combining a woman with her paternal or maternal aunt is established by the Sunnah: "A woman shall not be married concurrently with her paternal aunt, nor with her maternal aunt," and further specified: "A woman shall not be married alongside her paternal aunt, nor the paternal aunt alongside the daughter of her brother, nor a woman alongside her maternal aunt, nor the maternal aunt alongside the daughter of her sister." The underlying reason for prohibiting combining sisters is to prevent enmity between relatives which leads to the severing of kinship ties, a prohibited act. This rationale extends to paternal and maternal aunts, whether they are actual relatives or established through fosterage, near or far, as combining them causes the same enmity and potential severing of close kinship ties due to inherent jealousy between co-wives.

Supporting text

The Khawarij do not hold this prohibition to be valid because it is not explicitly found in the Quran, but this is refuted by the analogy to the established rulings derived from the Sunnah and the consensus of the early generations.