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Two Categories of Marriage Prohibition
Kuwait Personal Status Law divides marriage prohibitions into two types:
- Permanent prohibitions (tahrim mu'abbad): Relationships where marriage is forever forbidden
- Temporary prohibitions (tahrim mu'aqqat): Situations where marriage is currently forbidden but may become permissible if circumstances change
Under Article 12, a marriage is invalid if the woman is forbidden to the man, whether permanently or temporarily, at the time the contract is made.
Permanent Prohibitions: Blood Relations (Nasab)
Article 13 lists the women a man can never marry due to blood relationship:
- His ascendants — his mother, grandmothers, and all female ancestors, however remote
- His descendants — his daughters, granddaughters, and all female descendants, however remote
- Descendants of his parents — his sisters (full, half, or consanguine), nieces, and their descendants, however remote
- First-generation descendants of his grandparents — his aunts (paternal and maternal) but not their children
These prohibitions apply regardless of whether the family connection is through legitimate birth or legal recognition.
Permanent Prohibitions: Marriage Ties (Musahara)
Article 14 prohibits a man from marrying:
- Any woman who has been married to one of his ascendants (e.g., his father's wife or grandfather's wife), however remote the ancestor
- Any woman who has been married to one of his descendants (e.g., his son's wife or grandson's wife), however remote
- The ascendants of his wife (his wife's mother, grandmother, etc.), however remote — this prohibition applies from the moment of the marriage contract, not just after consummation
- The descendants of his wife (his wife's daughter, granddaughter, etc.) if he has actually consummated the marriage with her mother
This last point is important: a man may theoretically marry his wife's daughter from a previous marriage if his own marriage to the mother was never consummated, though this situation is rare and legally complex.
Prohibitions Arising From Illegitimate Relations
Article 15 contains a specific rule about relations arising from zina (adultery or fornication):
- A man is forbidden from marrying his own descendants from an illicit relationship, however remote
- No other marriage prohibition arises from an illicit relationship — for example, a man is not prohibited from marrying the mother of a child conceived outside marriage
Prohibitions Through Breastfeeding (Rada'a)
Article 16 extends blood relation prohibitions to breastfeeding relationships:
- Everything forbidden by blood relation is also forbidden through breastfeeding
- The rules of marriage ties (musahara) also apply through breastfeeding
However, Article 17 sets strict conditions for a breastfeeding prohibition to apply:
- The breastfeeding must have occurred within the first two years of the child's life
- There must have been at least five separate, complete, and satisfying breastfeeding sessions
- All five sessions must be certain — doubt is not sufficient to establish the prohibition
For expats who were breastfed by someone other than their biological mother (a common practice in some cultures), this rule may be relevant when considering marriage to someone from the same community.
Temporary Prohibitions
Several situations temporarily prevent a valid marriage:
Marrying Another Man's Wife or a Woman in Iddah
Article 19 prohibits a man from marrying a woman who is currently married to someone else or who is in her iddah (waiting period after divorce or the death of her husband).
Combining Certain Women in Marriage
Article 20 prohibits combining two women as wives simultaneously if, were one of them hypothetically male, he would be forbidden from marrying the other. The classic example is two sisters.
The Four-Wife Limit
Article 21 prohibits marrying a fifth wife while four marriages remain in effect and their iddah periods have not expired.
Triple Divorce
Article 22 prohibits a man from remarrying a woman he has divorced three times (talaq al-thalath) unless she has subsequently married another man, that marriage was genuinely consummated, and she has been divorced from him and completed her iddah.
Marriage After Corrupting a Marriage
Article 23 prohibits a man from marrying a woman he unlawfully influenced to leave her husband, unless she has returned to and then been divorced from, or widowed by, that original husband.
Practical Advice for Expats
- If you have a complex family background — including adoptions, blended families, or informal breastfeeding relationships — seek legal advice before formalizing any marriage in Kuwait
- Religious and civil prohibitions both apply under Kuwaiti law — there is no secular exemption
- Marriages that violate these prohibitions are void and will not be registered or recognized
- Document your family history clearly when applying for marriage registration to avoid administrative complications