The meaning of 'Prohibited to you are your mothers' is the prohibition of marrying them. [Mahamud said: 'Its meaning is the prohibition of marrying them... etc.'] Ahmad said: 'This is a derivation based on the saying of the generality of the shared meanings, so the mention of the neighbor is appropriate with them, and Allah knows best.' This is due to His saying: (And do not marry those whom your fathers married of women) and because the prohibition of marrying them is what is understood from their prohibition, just as the prohibition of wine implies the prohibition of drinking it, and the prohibition of pork implies the prohibition of eating it. And it has been recited (and the daughters of the sister) with the hamza being softened. Allah has placed breastfeeding on the same level as lineage, until He named the wet nurse a mother to the suckling child, and the suckling child a sister. Likewise, the husband of the wet nurse is his father, and his grandfathers are her grandfathers, and her sister is his aunt. Every child born to him from outside the wet nurse, before and after breastfeeding, is considered his brothers and sisters from his father. And the mother of the wet nurse is his grandmother, and her sister is his maternal aunt. Every child born to her from this husband is considered his brothers and sisters from his father and mother, and every child born to her from another is considered his brothers and sisters from his mother. From this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'What is prohibited by breastfeeding is like what is prohibited by lineage.' [Agreed upon from the hadith of Aisha and Ibn Abbas.] They said: 'The prohibition of breastfeeding is like the prohibition of lineage except in two matters: One is that it is not permissible for a man to marry the sister of his son by lineage, but it is permissible to marry the sister of his son by breastfeeding, because the impediment in lineage is the intercourse of his mother. This meaning does not exist in breastfeeding. The second is that it is not permissible to marry the mother of his brother by lineage, but it is permissible in breastfeeding, because the impediment in lineage is the intercourse of the father with her. This meaning does not exist in breastfeeding. From your women is related to your stepdaughters. Its meaning is that the stepdaughter from the woman with whom he has consummated the marriage is prohibited to the man, but it is permissible for him if he has not consummated the marriage with her. If you say: 'Can it be related to His saying: And the mothers of your women?' I say: It can only relate either to them and to the stepdaughters, so that their prohibition and the prohibition of the stepdaughters are both clear. Or it can relate to them without the stepdaughters, so that their prohibition is clear and the prohibition of the stepdaughters is ambiguous. The first is not permissible, because the meaning of 'from' with one of the related parties contradicts its meaning with the other. Don't you see that if you say: 'And the mothers of your women from your women whom you have entered into marriage with,' you have made 'from' for the clarification of the women, distinguishing between those with whom you have consummated marriage and those with whom you have not. And if you say: 'And your stepdaughters from your women whom you have entered into marriage with,' you have made 'from' for the beginning of the limit, as you say: 'The daughters of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, are from Khadijah.' It is not correct for one word in a single address to have two different meanings. The second is not permissible because what follows is what deserves to be related to, unless you say: 'I relate it to the women and the stepdaughters, and I make 'from' for connection, like His saying: (The hypocrites and the hypocritical women are from one another).' I am not from you, nor are you from me. I am not from Dadd, nor is Dadd from me. And the mothers of the women are connected to the women because they are their mothers. [He returned to his words. He said: 'And the second is not permissible because what follows is what deserves to be related to, unless you say: 'I relate it to the women and the stepdaughters, and I make 'from' for connection, like His saying: (The hypocrites and the hypocritical women are from one another).' I am not from you, nor are you from me. I am not from Dadd, nor is Dadd from me. And the mothers of the women are connected to the women because they... etc.'] Ahmad said: 'This means that this grammatical structure has a valid interpretation, and 'from' in this case is used in one of its meanings, which is connection, so its relation to both is correct. This has been reported from Ibn Abbas as a school of thought. A reading has also been reported from Ali, Ibn Abbas, Zaid, Ibn Umar, and Ibn al-Zubair: And the mothers of your women whom you have entered into marriage with. Ibn Abbas used to say: 'By Allah, it was revealed only like this.' Thus ended the report of al-Zamakhshari. The well-known opinion among the majority is the ambiguity of the prohibition of the woman, and the prohibition of the stepdaughter is conditioned by the entry of the mother, as is evident from the verse.

And for this, there is a secret and wisdom. This is because the man who marries the daughter of a woman is not free, after the contract and before the consummation, from dialogue between him and her mother, and communications and negotiations. Therefore, the need calls for the immediate establishment of the prohibition so that his longing for the mother is cut off, and he treats her as one of the mahrams. This is not the case for the one who contracts with the mother, as he is far from addressing her daughter before the consummation with the mother. Thus, there is no need to hasten the declaration of the prohibition.

As for when the consummation with the mother occurs, the possibility of mixing with the stepdaughter has arisen. At that point, the need calls for the declaration of the prohibition between them, and Allah knows best. Just as the stepdaughters are connected to their mothers because they are their daughters.

It has been agreed that the prohibition of the mothers of women is ambiguous compared to the prohibition of the stepdaughters, according to the apparent words of Allah the Exalted. It has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding a man who married a woman and then divorced her before consummation, that he said, 'It is permissible for him to marry her daughter, but it is not permissible for him to marry her mother.' This was narrated by Abu Qura Musa ibn Tariq al-Zubaidi in the Sunan, as mentioned by al-Muthanna ibn al-Sabah from Amr ibn Shu'aib from his father from his grandfather.

He raised it: "Any man who marries a woman and has sexual relations with her, it is not permissible for him to marry her daughter. If he has not had sexual relations with her, then he may marry her daughter. And any man who marries a woman, whether he has had sexual relations with her or not, it is not permissible for him to marry her mother." Abu Ya'la and Al-Bayhaqi reported it through Ibn Mubarak from Al-Muthanna. Al-Muthanna is weak, but Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Bayhaqi also narrated it through Ibn Lahi'a from 'Amr, and he said: It is not authentic, and it is narrated only by Al-Muthanna and Ibn Lahi'a, both of whom are weak. It seems that Ibn Lahi'a took it from Al-Muthanna because Abu Hatim said that Ibn Lahi'a did not hear anything from 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb. Therefore, this hadith did not reach the level of good.

And from 'Umar and 'Imran ibn Al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them: The mother is prohibited by the contract itself. And from Masruq: It is a mursal narration, so send what Allah has sent. And from Ibn 'Abbas: Leave what Allah has left ambiguous, except for what has been narrated from 'Ali, Ibn 'Abbas, Zayd, Ibn 'Umar, and Ibn Al-Zubair: They recited: "And the mothers of your women whom you have entered into." Ibn 'Abbas used to say: By Allah, it was revealed only like this. And there are two narrations from Jabir. And from Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyib from Zayd: If she dies with him, he takes her inheritance, and he dislikes marrying her mother. And if he divorces her before having sexual relations with her, if he wishes, he may do so: Death takes the place of sexual relations in that, just as it takes the place in the matter of the dowry. And the child of a woman from a man other than her husband is called a rabib and rabiba, because he raises them as he raises his own child in most cases, then it was expanded to include them even if he does not raise them.

If you say: What is the benefit of his saying "in your laps"? I say: Its benefit is the reasoning for the prohibition, and that they are for your nurturing of them or because they are about to be nurtured by you, and in the ruling of being in your laps if you have entered into their mothers, and your entering establishes the ruling of marriage and the bond of kinship and affection is confirmed by Allah between you, and the situation is such that you would treat their children as your own, as if you are contracting on their daughters as if you are contracting on your own daughters. And from 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him: He stipulated that in the prohibition. And this is what Dawud took.

If you say: What does "you have entered into them" mean? I say: It is a metaphor for sexual relations, as they say: He built upon her and placed the veil upon her, meaning you have brought them under the cover. The preposition "bi" indicates transference and touch. And similarly, it takes the place of sexual relations according to Abu Hanifa. And from 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, he secluded himself with a girl and uncovered her, so his son asked him for her, and he said: She is not lawful for you. And from Masruq, he ordered that his girl be sold after his death and said: Indeed, I have not had anything from her except that which makes her unlawful for my children from touching and looking. And from Al-Hasan regarding a man who owns a female slave and touches her out of desire or kisses her or uncovers her: She is not lawful for his children in any case. And from 'Ata and Hamad ibn Abi Sulayman: If he looks at a woman's private parts, he should not marry her mother or daughter. And from Al-Awza'i: If he has sexual relations with the mother and uncovers her and touches her with his hand and closes the door and draws the curtain, it is not lawful for him to marry her daughter. And from Ibn 'Abbas, Tawus, and 'Amr ibn Dinār: The prohibition only occurs with sexual relations alone.

"Those of your own loins" refers to biological children, not those you have adopted. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, married Zaynab bint Jahsh Al-Asadiyyah, the daughter of his aunt Umaymah bint Abd Al-Muttalib, when Zayd ibn Harithah divorced her. And Allah, the Exalted, said: "So that there is no hardship upon the believers in the wives of their adopted sons."

And that you combine in the place of raising is an addition to the prohibited ones, meaning it is prohibited for you to combine between two sisters. The intended meaning is the prohibition of marriage, because the prohibition in the verse is the prohibition of marriage. As for combining them in ownership of the right hand, from 'Uthman and 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with them, they said: One verse made them lawful and another verse made them unlawful.

As for the hadith of 'Uthman, it is in Al-Muwatta from Al-Zuhri from Qabisa ibn Dhuwai'b: "That 'Uthman was asked about the two sisters from what your right hands possess, and he said: I neither command you nor prohibit you; one verse made them lawful and another prohibited them." And Al-Shafi'i narrated it from Malik and Ibn Abi Shaiba from the way of Malik, and Al-Daraqutni from the way of Ma'mar from Al-Zuhri, which is closer to the wording of the compiler.

As for the hadith of 'Ali, it was narrated by Al-Bazzar, Ibn Abi Shaiba, and Abu Ya'la from the narration of Abu Salih Al-Hanafi, who said: 'Ali said to the people: Ask me. Then Ibn Al-Kawwa asked him: O Commander of the Faithful, tell us about the two owned sisters. He said: One verse made them lawful and another prohibited them, and I neither make them lawful nor prohibit them, nor do I do it myself or anyone from my household." They mean this verse and His saying: "Or what your right hands possess." He preferred the prohibition, and 'Uthman preferred the permissibility.

Except for what has passed.

Ahmad said: The position of this exception is like the position of its counterpart mentioned earlier in His saying: "And do not marry those whom your fathers married from women in the manner that has been clarified," which is that this prohibition is worthy of being complied with, so it is treated as a report of compliance, as if it were said: None of these prohibitions occur except for what has passed, and nothing else. Or in the manner that Al-Zamakhshari explained previously, which is that the intended meaning is except for what has passed, for it is not prohibited, so take it if possible, from the perspective of linking the prohibition to the impossible. However, Al-Zamakhshari did not take this path here because His saying: "Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful" indicates that the intended meaning is except for what has passed, for it is forgiven due to its exception in the first verse, because it was followed by His saying: "Indeed, it was an abomination and a detestable thing and an evil way." Thus, in each verse, what is appropriate to its context is determined, and Allah, the Exalted, knows best.