I am a man who has a grown up daughter.

Q 1: Is it permissible for the man who married a girl to divorce her and marry her mother? What is the ruling if the case is the reverse? If a man married a girl then she died; is it permissible for him to marry her mother? What is the ruling if the case is the reverse? I heard that if a man gets engaged to a girl, it is unlawful for him to marry her mother and that if the man concluded a marriage contract with a woman, it is unlawful for him to marry her daughter. Is this true?

A: If anyone concludes a marriage contract with a woman, it is unlawful for him to marry her mother forever. This is according to the saying of Allah (Exalted be He): Forbidden to you (for marriage) are: your mothers to His saying: ...your wives’ mothers If a person concludes a marriage contract with a woman and consummates the marriage, it is unlawful for him to marry her daughter forever. This is according to the saying of Allah (Exalted be He): ...your step daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom you have gone in - but there is no sin on you if you have not gone in them (to marry their daughters) (Part No. 18; Page No. 222) The meaning of "whom you have gone in" is those with whom the man consummates the marriage by having sexual intercourse. If the man divorces a woman before he consummates the marriage, it is lawful for him to marry her daughter. This is according to the previously-mentioned Qur'anic Verse. As regards the man who is engaged to a woman without concluding a marriage contract with her, it is lawful for him to marry her mother or her daughter. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.