The default is the continuation of the marriage
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Question: I am a woman who has been married for fifteen years, and I have six children. After this period, I learned that I was breastfed by my husband’s paternal aunt. I have heard a hadith to this effect, which says in a case like this: “The milk belongs to the father.” If that is the case, what must we do now, and what about our children? She also told her husband about it, but he did not care about the matter. What is the ruling in this issue?
Answer: Yes, the milk belongs to the father, as you mentioned. This is the issue of the milk of the male, and the matter is well-known among the scholars. The correct view is that it establishes prohibition. If a woman is breastfed by one of a man’s wives, then the children of that man become forbidden for her to marry, whether she was breastfed by the man’s mother or by his father’s wife. However, regarding the case mentioned, as long as the contract has been completed and the marriage has taken place, the default is the continuation of the marriage, until it is established that there was a prohibitive breastfeeding of five known feedings. If it is established that she was breastfed by one of her husband’s father’s wives five known times, then
they must be separated, and she becomes forbidden to him. What has passed is considered a marriage of doubt, and the children are attributed to him.
As long as it is merely a report that there was breastfeeding, and the manner of this breastfeeding and the number of feedings are not known, the default is the continuation of the marriage. She is his wife until the prohibitive breastfeeding is established.
Answer: Yes, the milk belongs to the father, as you mentioned. This is the issue of the milk of the male, and the matter is well-known among the scholars. The correct view is that it establishes prohibition. If a woman is breastfed by one of a man’s wives, then the children of that man become forbidden for her to marry, whether she was breastfed by the man’s mother or by his father’s wife. However, regarding the case mentioned, as long as the contract has been completed and the marriage has taken place, the default is the continuation of the marriage, until it is established that there was a prohibitive breastfeeding of five known feedings. If it is established that she was breastfed by one of her husband’s father’s wives five known times, then
they must be separated, and she becomes forbidden to him. What has passed is considered a marriage of doubt, and the children are attributed to him.
As long as it is merely a report that there was breastfeeding, and the manner of this breastfeeding and the number of feedings are not known, the default is the continuation of the marriage. She is his wife until the prohibitive breastfeeding is established.