No marriage with wife’s sister during iddat

LHC sets rule for marrying wife’s sister

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that a man cannot marry the sister of his former wife during her iddat period—a mandatory waiting period.

A single-member bench of the provincial high court, presided by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, issued this order while hearing a case filed by Sabir Ali, who in August 2023 accused his brother-in-law, Musawir Hussain, of having two sisters as his wives.

Hussain later claimed that he married his wife’s sister nine days after divorcing his wife.

In his 11-page verdict, the judge noted that according to Islamic jurisprudence and the country’s law, a man cannot marry two real sisters simultaneously.

The court ruled that marrying the sister of one’s former wife before the completion of the iddat of his first wife is equivalent to simultaneously marrying two sisters.

It stated that a woman remains married to a man until the completion of the iddat period, as per Islamic jurisprudence and the decisions of the Federal Sharia Court.

The verdict declared that marrying the sister of one’s former wife before the completion of the iddat period of the first wife would be considered void and punishable.

It is mandatory for the husband and wife to separate as soon as they become aware of the invalid marriage. If they fail to do so, it is the responsibility of the judge to annul their marriage, the court noted. During the investigation, Musawir

Hussain did not provide authenticated documents regarding his divorce, the ruling added.