Reforming the Custom Concerning Nikah within the Clan

Question

(1) We are old Muslim Rajputs. Among the Rajputs there are many castes, for example Chauhan, Gautam, Bais (Rajput clans of northern India) and so on. We are Gautams, and our maternal grandparents’ family is among the Bais. Among the Hindus the custom is that they do not marry their daughters into the caste from which they take girls. The same mindset has formed among us too, but some matches have already been made contrary to it before.

Answer

(1) Many customs of non-Muslims have spread among Muslims, and their reform is necessary. Avoiding, in marriage, the son of one’s maternal uncle, maternal aunt or paternal uncle (one’s cousins) is a wrong and un-Islamic practice; by the Shari‘a this match is not impermissible — on the contrary, the marriage contract (‘aqd) with them is valid.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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