According to the madhhab, fornication is like marriage: if a man fornicates with a woman, her ascendants and descendants become permanently forbidden to him, and his ascendants and descendants become permanently forbidden to her. This is one of the strange rulings in scholarship: that illicit sexual intercourse should be treated like marriage. It is among the weakest of opinions. Even weaker than it is the view of those who say that if a man commits sodomy with someone—may Allah protect us—then that person is like a woman to whom he has been validly married! Thus, they hold that the descendants and ascendants of the one with whom sodomy was committed become forbidden to the sodomite, while the descendants and ascendants of the sodomite become forbidden to the one with whom it was committed. This is even further removed from correctness than the first view, for sodomy can never make sexual intercourse lawful under any circumstances, whether through a marriage contract or otherwise. As for a woman’s private parts, one may enter into a marriage contract with a woman, and she then becomes lawful to him.

The correct view is that nothing besides a valid contract has any effect in establishing marital prohibitions. This is because, when contracts are mentioned without qualification in the sacred law, they are understood to mean valid contracts. Strangely, they say concerning zihar: if a person pronounces zihar regarding a woman who is unrelated to him, zihar is not established, even though Allah’s saying, “Those among you who pronounce zihar regarding their wives” [al-Mujadilah 58:2], is analogous in this respect to “the mothers of your wives.” Likewise, regarding ila’, Allah says, “For those who swear abstinence from their wives” [al-Baqarah 2:226]. They say that it only takes effect with respect to a wife. So how can we affirm prohibition in this issue?! The correct view, then, is that whatever is attained through an unlawful means has no effect in establishing prohibition or marital relations by affinity.

His statement, “the wife of his son, however far descended,” includes, for example, the wife of his son’s son, the wife of his daughter’s son, the wife of his son’s son’s son, and so forth. Allah Most High stipulated, concerning the wife of a son, that he must be a son from one’s own loins. He says, “and the wives of your sons from your own loins” [al-Nisa’ 4:23]—that is, those who came forth from the loins of