Intimacy between woman and step-father
Fatwa No: 359623

Question

Salam. I want to ask: if my stepfather touched my private parts and kissed me with lust and desire, is the marriage of my mother and stepfather valid? I want the opinion of the majority on this. Please tell me, and also give me the fatwa of any Saudi scholar on whether my father and mother's marriage with each other is valid. Please tell me.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The occurrence of these actions between a woman and her stepfather is an abhorrent evil and a dangerous deviation that indicates that their religion is weak and their conduct is corrupt.

In this case, they must both sincerely repent to Allah, stop committing this sin, regret having done it, and be determined not to do it again in the future while avoiding the reasons that lead to this evil, putting an end to it by blocking the means that lead to temptation, and taking every precaution that this will not happen again.

As for the impact of this evil on the marriage of the man to his wife, then most scholars are of the view that this does not invalidate their marriage, which means that this does not make him forbidden to her.

The Kuwaiti Fiqh Encyclopedia reads:

With regard to kissing or touching with lust, the scholars differed in opinion with regard to making the man forbidden to the mother or grandmother or daughter or granddaughter of the woman whom he kissed or touched with lust. The majority of the scholars (the Maaliki, Shaafi'i and Hanbali Schools) held that enjoying a woman in other than her vagina and kissing, even with lust, does not make the kisser forbidden to the mother or grandmother of the one whom he kissed nor to her daughters or granddaughters. Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami said in Tuhfatul-Muhtaaj, ‘Having intimacy with a woman, like enjoying her with desire between her legs is not like having sexual intercourse with her (in her vagina); according to the most apparent view (of the Shaafi’i School), because it does not necessitate a waiting period, so it also does not necessitate the prohibition of marriage (i.e. it does not necessitate making him forbidden to her mother and grandmother or her daughter and granddaughter.’

For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 261322.

Allah knows best.

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