Nikah with One’s Mother-in-Law

Question

A man lives in Bombay. He appointed another man as his agent (wakil) for his nikah and sent him to his home town. The agent had the nikah performed, after which he gave a talaq from Bombay without any seclusion (khalwa). The question is: may this man marry the mother of his divorced wife with whom the marriage was not consummated, or not?

Answer

Nikah through an agent (bi-l-tawkil) is valid, and after a valid nikah the wife’s mother becomes forbidden (haram), whether the talaq was given before seclusion or after it. As in the Qur’an: [ar]وَأُمَّهَـٰتُ نِسَآئِكُمْ[/ar] “…and the mothers of your wives…” (Surah al-Nisa’, 4:23).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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