A woman while breast feeding her baby daughter, breast fed a baby boy that she did not give birth to for a period of twenty five days. Is it allowable according to the Islamic law for that baby boy, as a man to take in marriage the sister of the baby girl with whom he had shared breast feeds?
Praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds. May Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Al and companions and protect his nation from that which he fears for it.
The Answer: Allah the Exalted said:
A woman while breast feeding her baby daughter, breast fed a baby boy that she did not give birth to for a period of twenty five days. Is it allowable according to the Islamic law for that baby boy, as a man to take in marriage the sister of the baby girl with whom he had shared breast feeds?
حرمت عليكم أمهاتكم وبناتكم وأخواتكم وعماتكم وخالاتكم وبنات الأخ وبنات الأخت وأمهاتكم اللاتي أرضعنكم وأخواتكم من الرضاعة النساء: 23
Ayah 23 of Surat An-Nisa' means:
Prohibited for you (in marriage) are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, the sisters of your fathers, the sisters of your mothers, the daughters of your brother, the daughters of your sister, your nursing mothers, the girls who nursed from the same woman as you…
Also Ibn ^Abbas may Allah accept his deeds said:
"The Prophet, peace be upon him said, 'the people forbidden in marriage by way of breast feeds are the same category as those people forbidden in marriage by way of lineage'. Related by Al-Bukhariy.
Similarly Imam Muslim narrated, "Breast feeding renders forbidden to take in marriage the same category of people that birth forbids in marriage".
Jurisprudents further explained that: The one who is under two years of age and was breast fed by a woman under certain conditions; this nursing woman becomes a mother to him and her children become his siblings, whether or not they were nursed with him.
Pertaining to the Islamic law mentioned, the judgment in the case of the aforementioned child that was nursed by a woman is that: as a grown man it is forbidden for him to take in marriage the woman who nursed him and any child nursed by that woman whether nursed at the same time as he, or not.
For more information consult the following references (books):
At-Tanbih wal Manhaj (and its explanatory notes)
Rawdhat At-Talibin, and others
We ask Allah to facilitate goodness for you and us.
