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:

my question is:

i hav a male cousin he is like my brothers but how should i treat him? is he non mehram? he is 19.

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Answer:

Are cousins Non-mehram?

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.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verses 22-23: And do not marry at all those women whom your father had married, though what has happened in the past is excepted. This is an indecent and abominable thing and an evil practice.

Forbidden to you (for marriage) are your mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, brother’s daughters, sister’s daughters, your foster mothers who have given suckle to you, your foster sisters who have taken suckle with you, the mothers of your wives, the daughters of your wives whom you have brought up, the daughters of your wives with whom you have conjugal relations, and it is not sinful for you to marry their daughters (after having divorced them). Also forbidden to you are the wives of your sons who are from your loins, and it is unlawful for you to keep two real sisters as wives at one and the same time, though what has happened in the past is excepted, for Allah is indeed Forgiving, Merciful.

In Shariah, cousins or offsprings of cousins are not mehrams, thus it is obligatory for the believing woman, who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day, to cover herself completely in front of her male adult cousins, and treat them exactly as she would treat any non-mehram male.

Below is the list of mehrams for the man and the woman in Islam; these are the people with whom Islam has forbidden marriage; and cousins are not included in the list of Mehrams in Shariah.

List of Mehram of the woman:

Husband

Father (includes grand father, great grand father, great great grand father, etc.)

Sons (includes sons’s and daughter’s sons, grand sons, and so on)

Brother ( includes brother’s sons, his sons, and so on)

Sister’s sons (includes sister’s son’s sons, his sons, and so on)

Paternal and Maternal uncles

Son in law

Father in law

step father

step sons (includes his sons, grand sons, etc.)

All the men who have shared the suckle of the woman she suckled with.

List of Mehram of the man:

Wife

Mother (includes grand mother, and so on)

Daugther (includes son’s and daughter’s grand daughters, and so on)

Brother’s daughters (includes their daughters, grand daughters, and so on)

Sister (includes their daughters, grand daughters, and so on)

Paternal and Maternal aunties

Daughter in law

Mother in law

Step mother

Step daughter (includes her daughters, and so on)

All the women who have shared the suckle of the woman he suckled with.

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

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan