A woman asks: I am a married woman, and I have a young brother through breastfeeding who behaves in ways that make me uncomfortable, and my husband is also bothered by it.
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner says: I am a married woman, and I have a young brother through breastfeeding who behaves in ways that make me uncomfortable, and my husband is also bothered by it. He forcibly removes the head covering from my hair, claiming that I am his sister. So, if I prevent him from visiting me at home, or if I do not want to shake his hand, is this action severing family ties? And what are the Shari'ah boundaries between a brother and a sister through breastfeeding?
The Shaykh : Yes. First, we must know that the bond of breastfeeding is not a bond of kinship. It is not obligatory for a person to maintain ties with the one who breastfed him, or with his brothers through breastfeeding, or his sisters through breastfeeding, or his uncles or maternal uncles through breastfeeding. Because kinship is? What is it?
The student: Kinship.
The Shaykh : Kinship. Breastfeeding is not kinship. Therefore, it is not obligatory for a person to provide financial support to his father through breastfeeding or his brother through breastfeeding. It is obligatory for him to provide financial support to his father by blood and his brother by blood, subject to the conditions known among scholars. So, there is no kinship between a person and his brother through breastfeeding, nor between him and his sister through breastfeeding. However, out of proper conduct and manliness, it is recommended that there be some connection between them.
As for what the questioner mentioned about the state of this brother through breastfeeding, who uncovers her head on the pretext that he is her brother, this behavior is undoubtedly suspicious. In this case, she should cut off contact with him, not uncover her face in his presence, and not speak to him in a way that fears fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Her husband has the right to prevent him from entering her home, because evil is feared from him. Her husband has the right to prevent her from talking to him or calling him, because this behavior is undoubtedly suspicious and fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is feared from it. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. First, we must know that the bond of breastfeeding is not a bond of kinship. It is not obligatory for a person to maintain ties with the one who breastfed him, or with his brothers through breastfeeding, or his sisters through breastfeeding, or his uncles or maternal uncles through breastfeeding. Because kinship is? What is it?
The student: Kinship.
The Shaykh : Kinship. Breastfeeding is not kinship. Therefore, it is not obligatory for a person to provide financial support to his father through breastfeeding or his brother through breastfeeding. It is obligatory for him to provide financial support to his father by blood and his brother by blood, subject to the conditions known among scholars. So, there is no kinship between a person and his brother through breastfeeding, nor between him and his sister through breastfeeding. However, out of proper conduct and manliness, it is recommended that there be some connection between them.
As for what the questioner mentioned about the state of this brother through breastfeeding, who uncovers her head on the pretext that he is her brother, this behavior is undoubtedly suspicious. In this case, she should cut off contact with him, not uncover her face in his presence, and not speak to him in a way that fears fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Her husband has the right to prevent him from entering her home, because evil is feared from him. Her husband has the right to prevent her from talking to him or calling him, because this behavior is undoubtedly suspicious and fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is feared from it. Yes.