Transliteration:( Wa laa tankihoo maa nakaha aabaaa'ukum minan nisaaa'i illaa maa qad salaf; innahoo kaana faahishatanw wa maqtanw wa saaa'a sabeelaa )
"And do not marry those (women) whom your fathers have married [81], except what has already passed [82]. Indeed, that is an act of indecency, hateful, and a very evil way."
If the word Nikah here is taken to mean a marriage bond, then:
It is forbidden to marry one’s stepmother,
Even if the father divorced her before consummating the marriage.
However, if Nikah is interpreted as cohabitation, then the ruling is broader:
Any woman with whom the father has cohabited—
whether lawfully (as a wife) or unlawfully (as a mistress or slave girl)—
is permanently forbidden (haram) for the son,
because she holds the status of a mother in relation to him.
This ruling upholds the dignity and moral boundaries within familial relationships.
The exception "except what has already passed" refers to:
Cases that occurred during the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah),
Before Islamic laws on marriage were revealed.
Thus:
If someone had unknowingly entered such a marriage in pre-Islamic times,
and the woman is now deceased,
there is no sin on them for past actions.
Example:
If a fire-worshiper accepts Islam and had married his mother or sister during his days of disbelief,
he must immediately end such a marriage.
However:
Children born from those marriages—prior to embracing Islam—are considered lawful (legitimate),
because apostates or disbelievers were not yet bound by Islamic laws at the time.
The tafsir of Surah Nisa verse 22 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nisa ayat 19 which provides the complete commentary from verse 19 through 22.
(4:22) Do not marry the women whom your fathers married, although what is past is past.[32] This indeed was a shameful deed, a hateful thing, and an evil way.[33]
32. The Qur’an rounds off all statements prohibiting the objectionable features of the social life of the Jahiliyah period by condoning violations of those prohibitions prior to their revelation: ‘What is past is past.’ This has two meanings. First, that those concerned would not be punished for mistakes committed in their state of Ignorance, providing they rectified their conduct after the prohibitory injunction had been revealed. Second, that the prohibition of any ancient custom, usage and law did not mean that all acts which took place in the past would be nullified, and that all the consequences of those acts would be deemed void, and people absolved of all the obligations which ensued from them. If marriage with the step-mother, for instance, was prohibited it did not necessarily follow that the children of all such marriages which had been contracted in the past were to be reckoned illegitimate, and that the offspring from such marriages would be disinherited. Similarly, if a certain transaction was declared unlawful it did not mean that all such transactions which had taken place prior to the prohibition should be deemed void and that all the earnings of people accumulated through those transactions would be either seized or declared illegitimate property.
33. In Islamic law marrying women who fall in the prohibited degrees of marriage is a recognized criminal offence. According to traditions in the Hadith collections of Abu Da’ud, Nasa’i and Ahmad b. Hanbal, people guilty of this offence were punished by the Prophet (peace be on him) with death and confiscation of property. It appears from the tradition related by Ibn ‘Abbas (found in the collection of Ibn Majah), that the Prophet (peace be on him) had devised the following general rule: ‘Kill whosoever commits sexual intercourse with a woman forbidden to him’ (Ibn Majah; ‘Hudud’, 13, 35; also Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 300 – Ed.) There is some disagreement, however, among jurists on this question. Ahmad b. Hanbal is of the opinion that the convicted person should be put to death and his property confiscated. Abu Hanifah, Malik and Shafi’i are of the opinion that if a person commits sexual intercourse with a woman within the prohibited degrees he should be punished for adultery; and if he merely marries (but has not actually had sexual intercourse – Ed.) he should be subjected to severe punishment.
[175]- Before Islām. After the ruling was revealed by Allāh, men were required to release those women unlawful to them (e.g., a stepmother, one of two sisters, or any wives over the limit of four). The same obligation applies to one once he has accepted Islām.
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