I am a young man, thirty-five years old. My mother passed away three months after my birth, and my paternal grandmother, my father's mother, took charge of my upbringing. She breastfed me from another woman, and then she breastfed me herself. At that time, she was fifty years old and was not pregnant. When I wanted to get married, I married my paternal aunt's daughter, my father's sister. I am now living a happy life with her. Is there any religious impediment to this marriage due to that breastfeeding by my grandmother? If there is an impediment, what should I do now?
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The questioner : He says: I am a young man, thirty-five years old. My mother passed away three months after my birth, and my paternal grandmother, my father's mother, took charge of my upbringing. She breastfed me from another woman, and then she breastfed me herself. At that time, she was fifty years old and was not pregnant. When I wanted to get married, I married my paternal aunt's daughter, my father's sister. I am now living a happy life with her. Is there any religious impediment to this marriage due to that breastfeeding by my grandmother? If there is an impediment, what should I do now?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. In answer to this question asked by the Egyptian brother, who was breastfed by his grandmother and then married his paternal aunt's daughter, his aunt being his father's sister, and this grandmother appears to us to also be his father's mother. Consequently, the aunt would be his sister through breastfeeding. If she is his sister through breastfeeding, he becomes the maternal uncle of her daughter. Allah the Exalted said in the Qur'an:[An-Nisa 4:23] It is also established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Sunan Ibn Majah 1937Sahih (Darussalam) If the daughter of a sister is forbidden through blood relation, then the daughter of a sister is likewise forbidden through breastfeeding. Therefore, it is not permissible for him to marry this daughter. However, let him know that breastfeeding does not establish kinship unless it is five breastfuls or more before weaning. So let him verify this breastfeeding: did it reach five breastfuls and was it before weaning? If so, he must separate from this wife because the marriage is invalid. But if the breastfeeding was less than five breastfuls, the ruling of breastfeeding is not established, and in that case, this wife is validly married to him, and he is not required to separate from her.
The questioner : Does the fact that the grandmother was fifty years old at the time of breastfeeding, and was not pregnant or giving birth, have any effect or not?
The Shaykh : It has no effect. This has no effect.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : According to the stronger opinion, due to the generality of the verse:[An-Nisa 4:23].
The questioner : Yes, as long as milk is found in her? Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, so whenever milk is present in a woman, whether she is old or young, the ruling of breastfeeding is established by it.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good.
These are three questions sent by the questioner, Mus'ad Salim Husayn, a Yemeni resident in Riyadh.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. In answer to this question asked by the Egyptian brother, who was breastfed by his grandmother and then married his paternal aunt's daughter, his aunt being his father's sister, and this grandmother appears to us to also be his father's mother. Consequently, the aunt would be his sister through breastfeeding. If she is his sister through breastfeeding, he becomes the maternal uncle of her daughter. Allah the Exalted said in the Qur'an:
Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الأُخْتِ وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ مِنَ الرَّضَاعَةِBreast-feeding makes unlawful (for marriages) the same things that blood tie make unlawful.
يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسبThe questioner : Does the fact that the grandmother was fifty years old at the time of breastfeeding, and was not pregnant or giving birth, have any effect or not?
The Shaykh : It has no effect. This has no effect.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : According to the stronger opinion, due to the generality of the verse:
your [milk] mothers who nursed you
أُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْThe questioner : Yes, as long as milk is found in her? Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, so whenever milk is present in a woman, whether she is old or young, the ruling of breastfeeding is established by it.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good.
These are three questions sent by the questioner, Mus'ad Salim Husayn, a Yemeni resident in Riyadh.