Being married to a woman and her maternal cousin at the same time

A question about marrying the maternal cousin of one of one's wives, in which Ibn Baz answered that being married at once to a woman and her maternal or paternal cousin is unobjectionable, and that what is forbidden is combining two sisters, or a woman and her paternal or maternal aunt, even a distant one. ¹

The questioner said he has three wives, and one of them has a maternal cousin whom he wishes to marry as a fourth; he asked whether there is any harm in this, given that both women consent. ¹

Ibn Baz answered that there is no harm in a man being married at once to his wives and their maternal or paternal cousin: combining two paternal cousins, two maternal cousins, or the daughters of two maternal or two paternal aunts is unobjectionable. ¹ He said that what is forbidden is combining two sisters, as in al-Nisa 23, which is prohibited, and likewise combining a woman with her paternal aunt, with her brother's daughter, with her maternal aunt, or with her sister's daughter, because the Prophet forbade combining a woman with her paternal aunt or with her maternal aunt: the younger is not married over the elder nor the elder over the younger. ¹ He explained that the upshot is that a man may not combine two women one of whom is the other's paternal or maternal aunt, even a distant one: a woman may not be combined with her father's paternal aunt, her mother's paternal aunt, or that of her grandfather or grandmother, nor with her maternal aunt or that of her mother, father or grandmother, since the maternal aunt of her father or mother counts as her own maternal aunt, just as God forbade in His Book combining two sisters; combining the daughters of two paternal uncles, two maternal uncles, two maternal aunts or two paternal aunts, however, is unobjectionable. ¹

This answer was published on binbaz.org.sa, the official site of Ibn Baz's legacy, as no. 4115 under the headings of women's issues and the conditions and pillars of marriage, with no date on the page. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.