One Who Denies the Marriage of a Widow

Question

Is one who holds the following beliefs a culprit in the Sacred Law or not, and if so, what is the ruling? When, concerning the marriage of widows, the verse [ar]وَأَنكِحُوا الْأَيَامَىٰ مِنكُمْ[/ar] (“And marry off the unmarried among you…”) was put before him, he rejected the said verse and said, “Just as the Aryas corrupted the religion of the Hindus, so the religious scholars have distorted the Qur’an and hadith; we do not accept this verse.”

Answer

The permissibility and commendability of a widow’s marriage are established by the Qur’an, the hadith and consensus; to deny this is a matter of grave danger and kufr. Holding the marriage of widows to be impermissible is not the belief of Muslims but of disbelievers. Such a person should repent as soon as possible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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