We have two sisters who have married, and each of them has given birth to a son.

The questioner : He says: We have two sisters who have married, and each of them has given birth to a son. The elder sister nursed the younger sister's son for a period. However, the elder sister was divorced from her husband and did not bear any children from him other than the one son whom she nursed along with her sister's son. The divorced woman then married a second husband and bore three daughters and a son from him. As for the younger sister, she bore four daughters and a son. However, breastfeeding was not completed between all of these children, except for the first son of the elder sister, who is from the first husband. It happened that the first son of the younger sister died, and the second son of the elder sister, who is from the first husband, also died, and the two of them were related by breastfeeding. As for the remaining children, breastfeeding was not completed between them. Therefore, we ask you to kindly answer this question urgently so that each of us may be fully confident in proceeding to marry one of the elder sister's daughters to one of the younger sister's sons?

The Shaykh : As long as there is no breastfeeding relationship between the remaining children—neither did these children nurse from the mother of those children, nor did those children nurse from the mother of these children—there is no harm in proceeding with the marriage between them. This is because breastfeeding does not affect the relatives of the nursed child except in the case of his descendants. As for his lateral relatives, such as his brothers and uncles, and his ancestors, such as his fathers, breastfeeding has no effect on them. Breastfeeding extends only to the nursed child and his descendants who branched off from him.

The questioner : Yes.
This message is from Khalifa al-Falafi from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.