# Did the Prophet marry his cousin?

*Cousin marriage in Indo-Pak culture, and whether the Prophet married his cousin*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/nivzcdjxc2o/s/1/
- Date: 2020-03-08 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Genetics and marrying relatives | Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–3:37)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIVZcdJxC2o&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/nivzcdjxc2o/

**Topics:** Choosing a spouse; The marriage contract; The wives of the Prophet

**Question as asked:** Can one get married without a wali? Didn't your Prophet get married to his cousin?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh, a relative only through her mother, is unlike families where everyone marries cousins; he also says marriage without a wali is valid.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he believes that a person can get married without a wali.

**Evidence, his words at 2:16:** “can one get married without a Wally I do believe I do believe that you can get married without a Willie and I've got a whole video detailed on that” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIVZcdJxC2o&t=136s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth responds light-heartedly to a chat comment about his eyebrows, putting his looks down to God's blessing and to his parents not being related to each other. He then jokes at length about cousin marriage, saying he is glad nobody in his immediate family did it and imagining how awkward it must be, before saying he is only joking. Reading the chat, Mufti says briefly that he believes one can get married without a wali and has a detailed video on the hadith involved. To a viewer asking whether the Prophet did not marry his cousin, he says that is different: he identifies the case as Zaynab bint Jahsh, related to the Prophet through her mother while her father and tribe were different, whereas in some Pakistani families everybody keeps marrying within the same family, which is what he meant.

## Sources and names cited

- wali (marriage guardian)
- Zaynab bint Jahsh

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–3:37)

[0:00] Adam Mira's ass bro do you shape your eyebrows the concerns I don't if I'm surprised they appear that way but I suppose it's hard I mean fondly rugby huh it's the Lord and His blessings he showers them on whosoever he wills that and I suppose a bit of DNA in jeans since my my mom and dad weren't related to each other not that this not that

[0:39] there's necessarily anything against incest oh sorry I mean cousin marriages [Laughter] thank God I mean nobody in my immediate family did things like that cousin marriages and I'm so glad I just think sometimes that these things I just must be just so incredibly awkward

[1:10] it's like sometime you must be looking at them at the other partner and thinking wow I mean I can literally see my granddad in you I mean I can literally see my granddad and Grandma because they also your granddad Engram oh god I Benji oh sorry sorry sorry but I'm easy I'm

[1:40] just joking obviously those of you that are married to your sisters and I mean sorry cousins no offense no hints you know just joking joking it's okay yeah what Oh what's a bit of intimacy between cousins huh now let's let's take a look what is going on man what is bothering me

[2:16] can one get married without a Wally I do believe I do believe that you can get married without a Willie and I've got a whole video detailed on that where I showed the hadith and how the hadeeth are not sorry awry somebody said didn't your prophet get married to his cousin no not like that right okay so there's a difference between and like that you're related somehow but everybody is so different by and large that I suppose is slightly different to actual you know

[2:54] within the Pakistani community sometimes they just keep it all within within within within like everybody's just cousins so I suppose maybe things are different if everybody's always different you know the mother's different father's different all these people are always different than one person through the mother she's related like this but everybody else her father's different and I think you're talking about Zena bent Josh who through her mother was related to the Prophet at there but through the father and the entire tribe and everything was different so in that sense I mean that's that's not what I meant when I was saying that

[3:34] but

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment NIVZcdJxC2o/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/nivzcdjxc2o/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.