What are the conditions for breastfeeding that establishes prohibition?
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The questioner : The conditions for breastfeeding that establishes prohibition?
The Shaykh : The conditions for breastfeeding that establishes prohibition are that it must be from a human, that it must be before weaning or before the age of two years, and that it must be five breastfeedings or more. Some scholars stipulated that it must result from pregnancy or intercourse, but the apparent evidence indicates that this is not a condition, and this is the view of the majority of scholars. If a virgin woman’s milk flows and she breastfeeds a child, she becomes his mother, even if she has not married, due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:23].
So the conditions for breastfeeding are: that it be from a human, that it be before weaning or before the age of two years, and that it be five breastfeedings or more. If it is from a non-human, such as if two children suckle from a goat’s milk, for example, they do not become brothers. Likewise, if the breastfeeding occurs after the age of two years and weaning, it has no effect; the breastfeeding of an older child has no impact. Likewise, if it is one, two, three, or four breastfeedings, it does not establish prohibition, based on the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated by Muslim, in which she said:Mishkat al-Masabih 3167 And her saying (may Allah be pleased with her): does not mean that someone removed it after the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but rather its meaning is that the abrogation of this verse was late, so some people did not know of its abrogation and continued to recite it after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : The conditions for breastfeeding that establishes prohibition are that it must be from a human, that it must be before weaning or before the age of two years, and that it must be five breastfeedings or more. Some scholars stipulated that it must result from pregnancy or intercourse, but the apparent evidence indicates that this is not a condition, and this is the view of the majority of scholars. If a virgin woman’s milk flows and she breastfeeds a child, she becomes his mother, even if she has not married, due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
your [milk] mothers who nursed you
وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْSo the conditions for breastfeeding are: that it be from a human, that it be before weaning or before the age of two years, and that it be five breastfeedings or more. If it is from a non-human, such as if two children suckle from a goat’s milk, for example, they do not become brothers. Likewise, if the breastfeeding occurs after the age of two years and weaning, it has no effect; the breastfeeding of an older child has no impact. Likewise, if it is one, two, three, or four breastfeedings, it does not establish prohibition, based on the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated by Muslim, in which she said: