My grandfather had a wife who was the mother of my father and my uncle. This grandmother of mine has passed away. My uncle has a daughter, and my father has a son who is my brother.

The questioner : My grandfather had a wife who was the mother of my father and my uncle. This grandmother of mine has passed away. My uncle has a daughter, and my father has a son who is my brother. After my grandmother’s death, my grandfather married another woman. This wife of my grandfather nursed my brother. Is it permissible for him, after this nursing by his grandfather’s wife, to marry his cousin? Knowing that she has not been nursed by her at all?

The Shaykh : The answer to this question is known from the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So your brother, who was nursed by your grandfather’s wife, has become a son to your grandfather. And if he is a son to your grandfather, he becomes a brother to your father and your uncle as well. Based on this, his cousin is not permissible for him to marry, because he would be her paternal uncle, since he is a brother to her father. This brotherhood is brotherhood through the father. If a brother through the father has the rulings of brotherhood when it is through blood, then so does a brother through the father have the rulings of brotherhood when it is through nursing. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: There is no difference between whether his cousin was nursed by his grandfather’s new wife or not, because the important point is that he himself was a brother to her father through the father, a brother to him through nursing. And thus, he would be a paternal uncle to his daughters, so it is not permissible for him to marry them. Yes.

The questioner : Of course, this is if the conditions of nursing in Islamic law are met?

The Shaykh : Yes, if the conditions are met, which are that there be five sucklings within the first two years or before weaning.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.