My cousin’s daughter has been married for ten years and has been blessed, praise be to Allah, with five sons
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The Shaykh : Shortening the prayer is a recommended practice in all cases, and combining prayers is a recommended practice if, what is it? If the journey becomes difficult; otherwise, it is better not to combine, though if one does combine, there is no harm. As for if one has arrived in his hometown and knows that he will reach his home before the time of the second prayer enters, is he permitted to combine? We say: Yes, he is permitted to combine, but it is better in this case not to combine because he has no need to combine. Yes.
The questioner : He says: O honorable Shaykh, my cousin’s daughter has been married for ten years and has been blessed, praise be to Allah, with five sons. My mother informed me that I was breastfed by my grandfather’s second wife, who is not my father’s mother. I asked my mother about those instances of breastfeeding, and she told me that I was always breastfed by her, meaning by my grandfather’s wife. I understood from her words that my mother would go and leave me with her constantly, and she would breastfeed me along with her daughter constantly. O honorable Shaykh! What should I do now, knowing that only I and my mother are aware of this matter?
The Shaykh : This requires two things: The first is that the one reporting must be trustworthy, trustworthy in her intellect and her religion. If she is an elderly woman and there is a fear that she has become forgetful, then her words are not to be considered. If she is trustworthy, her statement is accepted; we accept her statement. Then the second thing is that she testifies that this child was breastfed five times or more. If she says: He was breastfed once, then there is nothing; twice, there is nothing; three times, there is nothing; four times, there is nothing. If she says: I do not know if he was breastfed five times or less? Then there is nothing as well, because of the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): So certainty is required, and with doubt, there is nothing. If these two matters are found, that the reporter is trustworthy and that she testified that the breastfeeding was five times, then your cousin’s daughter is not lawful for you. Why? Because your cousin’s daughter has become your sister through breastfeeding, is that not so? Her uncle is the son of your grandfather, and he was breastfed by his grandfather’s wife, so this husband becomes a son of the grandfather and a brother to whom? To the uncle. And the uncle’s daughter becomes his sister, and he is her uncle. But certainty is required. And if we are certain, then it is obligatory to separate them, because it has become clear that the first marriage is invalid; it has become clear that the marriage that took place between them was invalid by the consensus of the Muslims. If the breastfeeding is completed, it invalidates this contract. Yes.
The questioner : He says: O honorable Shaykh, my cousin’s daughter has been married for ten years and has been blessed, praise be to Allah, with five sons. My mother informed me that I was breastfed by my grandfather’s second wife, who is not my father’s mother. I asked my mother about those instances of breastfeeding, and she told me that I was always breastfed by her, meaning by my grandfather’s wife. I understood from her words that my mother would go and leave me with her constantly, and she would breastfeed me along with her daughter constantly. O honorable Shaykh! What should I do now, knowing that only I and my mother are aware of this matter?
The Shaykh : This requires two things: The first is that the one reporting must be trustworthy, trustworthy in her intellect and her religion. If she is an elderly woman and there is a fear that she has become forgetful, then her words are not to be considered. If she is trustworthy, her statement is accepted; we accept her statement. Then the second thing is that she testifies that this child was breastfed five times or more. If she says: He was breastfed once, then there is nothing; twice, there is nothing; three times, there is nothing; four times, there is nothing. If she says: I do not know if he was breastfed five times or less? Then there is nothing as well, because of the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):