Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Aslam alikum

Dear Brother i have a questoin regarding the selected topic i shall be pleased and more than happy if you reply me as soon as possible because it is really very urgent for me.

Question is :

Can a person marry a woman who is elder/older than him ? and please state as much aayat/hadith as you can.

thank you and regards

ALLAH HAFIZ. 

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Answer:

Marry one who is older

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: Can a person marry a woman who is elder/older than him ? and please state as much aayat/hadith as you can.

Provided all the other legal conditions of marriage are fulfilled (proposal and acceptance, determination of the mehr amount, presence of at least two witnesses, and the consent of the guardian of the bride), it is absolutely permissible in Islam for a man to marry a woman who is elder to him.

The biggest evidence of the permissibility of a believer marrying an elder woman in Islam is the marriage of the Noble Prophet (saws) to his most beloved and first wife, Hadrat Khadijah (r.a.). At the time of their marriage, the Prophet (saws) was 25 years of age and Hadrat Khadijah (r.a.) was 40!

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith Narrated byAisha

I did not feel jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet as much as I did of his first wife Khadijah, though I did not see her, but the Prophet used to mention her very often, and whenever he slaughtered a sheep, he would cut its parts and send some of them to the women friends of Khadija. When I said to him (saws), "What makes you remember an old woman from amongst the old women of Quraish: an old woman (with a teethless mouth) of red gums, who died long ago, and in whose place Allah has given you somebody better than her?" He (saws) replied: ‘Khadijah believed in the Message when none on earth believed me, she was such-and-such (praising her noble qualities), and from her I had children."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan