What Is the Way to Marry a Woman Who Has Had Several Nikahs?

Question

There was a woman in our neighbourhood. Already when our neighbour contracted a nikah with her and brought her home, we heard that this woman’s previous husband was alive. When our neighbour, her husband, died, this woman would often sit in our house, because her house is next to ours with only one wall between them. This woman had a minor daughter. On the day the nikah of this minor girl was about to be performed, I refused, because I had heard that the previous husband of this minor girl’s mother was alive.

Answer

If it becomes known through investigation that this woman’s husband is alive and that there has been no Shari‘a separation between them followed by the expiry of the ‘idda, then this woman’s nikah elsewhere is not permissible, and whoever performs the nikah will also be sinful.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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