What is the ruling on the milk of a woman who has reached the age of menopause if she produces milk for a child and breastfeeds him five times or more within the first two years? Does this milk establish a bond of kinship that makes marriage forbidden, and who would be his father through breastfeeding, especially if the nursing woman has no husband?
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The questioner : What is the ruling on the milk of a woman who has reached the age of menopause if she produces milk for a child and breastfeeds him five times or more within the first two years? Does this milk establish a bond of kinship that makes marriage forbidden? And who would be his father through breastfeeding, especially if the nursing woman has no husband? I hope for your guidance. May Allah reward you with the best reward.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The answer to this question is that breastfeeding which establishes prohibition brings about the same prohibitions as blood kinship, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Ibn Majah 1937Sahih (Darussalam) The women forbidden to marry due to blood kinship are seven, as mentioned by Allah the Exalted in His saying: [An-Nisa 4:23] Their counterparts through breastfeeding are forbidden by the explicit text of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to which we referred earlier. Allah the Exalted also mentioned a part of this in His saying: [An-Nisa 4:23] These are mentioned among the women forbidden to marry. Thus, breastfeeding establishes the prohibitions of blood kinship and the prohibition of marriage. Branching from this prohibition is the permissibility of looking at the woman, being alone with her, and traveling with her. However, breastfeeding does not establish any of the rulings of blood kinship regarding inheritance, liability for blood money, or financial maintenance, and the like. Breastfeeding has no effect unless it consists of five feedings within the first two years before weaning. The answer to the question you asked becomes clear through what we have mentioned. The breastfeeding she referred to was five feedings within the first two years. Therefore, the nursing woman becomes the mother of this child through breastfeeding, based on the general meaning of Allah’s saying: [An-Nisa 4:23] even if the milk came after she had reached the age of menopause. If she has a husband, then the breastfed child becomes her son. In fact, the breastfed child becomes the son of the woman and the son of the man to whom her milk is attributed. If she does not have a husband, meaning she did not marry, and then milk came, she becomes the mother of this child whom she breastfed, and he will not have a father through breastfeeding. Do not be surprised that a child may have a mother through breastfeeding but no father. Nor should you be surprised that a child may have a father through breastfeeding but no mother. In the first scenario, if there were a woman who breastfed this child two times from milk that was from her husband, and then that husband separated from her, and she married another husband after the waiting period ended, and she became pregnant by him and gave birth to a child, and then she breastfed the remaining feedings for the previous child, she would be his mother through breastfeeding because he breastfed from her five times. He would not have a father through breastfeeding because she did not breastfeed him with the milk of one man five times or more; that is, she did not breastfeed him with the milk of a single man five times or more.
As for the second issue, which is that a child has a father through breastfeeding but no mother: for example, if a man has two wives, and one of them breastfed this child two times, and the other breastfed him the remaining feedings, in this case, he becomes the son of the husband because he breastfed from the milk attributed to him five times. He will not have a mother through breastfeeding because he did not breastfeed from one woman more than two times, and from the other more than three times. Yes.
The questioner : Also, you ask and say.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The answer to this question is that breastfeeding which establishes prohibition brings about the same prohibitions as blood kinship, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Breast-feeding makes unlawful (for marriages) the same things that blood tie make unlawful.
يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسبProhibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الأُخْتِyour [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing
وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ مِنَ الرَّضَاعَةِyour [milk] mothers who nursed you
وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْAs for the second issue, which is that a child has a father through breastfeeding but no mother: for example, if a man has two wives, and one of them breastfed this child two times, and the other breastfed him the remaining feedings, in this case, he becomes the son of the husband because he breastfed from the milk attributed to him five times. He will not have a mother through breastfeeding because he did not breastfeed from one woman more than two times, and from the other more than three times. Yes.
The questioner : Also, you ask and say.