The opinions of the scholars regarding the wife's mother through breastfeeding: is she a mahram to the husband or not?
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His Eminence the Shaykh: Is the wife's mother through breastfeeding a mahram to the husband?
Yes.
Most of the scholars, including the four Imams, say: The wife's mother through breastfeeding is like her mother by blood.
So the husband of her daughter through breastfeeding is a mahram to her, just as the husband of her daughter by blood is a mahram to her.And they cited the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): (What is forbidden by breastfeeding is forbidden by blood relation).
And Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: That the wife's mother through breastfeeding is not like her mother by blood, and that the husband of her daughter through breastfeeding is not a mahram to her, and they cited the same hadith as evidence.So he said: That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (What is forbidden by breastfeeding is forbidden by blood relation).
And it is known that your wife's mother is forbidden to you, but by what cause: by blood relation or by affinity? By affinity. And if it is by affinity, then the hadith indicates by its implication that she is not a mahram to you. And what the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) held is closer to the truth: that your wife's mother through breastfeeding and your wife's daughter through breastfeeding are not among your mahrams.
The consideration remains: Is it permissible for a man, if his wife dies, to marry her mother through breastfeeding or her daughter through breastfeeding?We say: Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Yes.
It is permissible; because she is not a mahram to him.But I say, from the standpoint of caution: He should not marry her; because the major disagreement in this issue may necessitate for a man to refrain from ruling on its permissibility for him.
If someone were to say: How do you say: he should not marry her, and you say: she is not among his mahrams? Is this not a type of contradiction?We say: There is no harm, out of caution, in that we combine the two rulings.And our evidence for this is: That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) judged in favor of the boy in whom 'Abd ibn Zuma'a and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas disputed. He judged him for whom? He judged him for Zuma'a, making him a brother to Sawdah; and Sawdah was the wife of the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). And when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a clear resemblance to 'Utbah in this boy, he said to his wife: (Veil yourself from him). So here, he combined two different, contradictory rulings for the sake of caution.
So I see in this issue: That the wife's mother through breastfeeding and the wife's daughter through breastfeeding are not mahrams, as chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, but I see, from the standpoint of scrupulousness and caution, that one should not marry her except in one case: if no other woman from the daughters of Adam remains, then at that time he marries her.
And breastfeeding does not affect inheritance by consensus, nor the obligation of maintenance, nor the obligation of the 'aqilah (kin group) to pay blood money, nor anything else.
Yes.
Most of the scholars, including the four Imams, say: The wife's mother through breastfeeding is like her mother by blood.
So the husband of her daughter through breastfeeding is a mahram to her, just as the husband of her daughter by blood is a mahram to her.And they cited the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): (What is forbidden by breastfeeding is forbidden by blood relation).
And Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: That the wife's mother through breastfeeding is not like her mother by blood, and that the husband of her daughter through breastfeeding is not a mahram to her, and they cited the same hadith as evidence.So he said: That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (What is forbidden by breastfeeding is forbidden by blood relation).
And it is known that your wife's mother is forbidden to you, but by what cause: by blood relation or by affinity? By affinity. And if it is by affinity, then the hadith indicates by its implication that she is not a mahram to you. And what the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) held is closer to the truth: that your wife's mother through breastfeeding and your wife's daughter through breastfeeding are not among your mahrams.
The consideration remains: Is it permissible for a man, if his wife dies, to marry her mother through breastfeeding or her daughter through breastfeeding?We say: Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Yes.
It is permissible; because she is not a mahram to him.But I say, from the standpoint of caution: He should not marry her; because the major disagreement in this issue may necessitate for a man to refrain from ruling on its permissibility for him.
If someone were to say: How do you say: he should not marry her, and you say: she is not among his mahrams? Is this not a type of contradiction?We say: There is no harm, out of caution, in that we combine the two rulings.And our evidence for this is: That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) judged in favor of the boy in whom 'Abd ibn Zuma'a and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas disputed. He judged him for whom? He judged him for Zuma'a, making him a brother to Sawdah; and Sawdah was the wife of the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him). And when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a clear resemblance to 'Utbah in this boy, he said to his wife: (Veil yourself from him). So here, he combined two different, contradictory rulings for the sake of caution.
So I see in this issue: That the wife's mother through breastfeeding and the wife's daughter through breastfeeding are not mahrams, as chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, but I see, from the standpoint of scrupulousness and caution, that one should not marry her except in one case: if no other woman from the daughters of Adam remains, then at that time he marries her.
And breastfeeding does not affect inheritance by consensus, nor the obligation of maintenance, nor the obligation of the 'aqilah (kin group) to pay blood money, nor anything else.