A woman breastfed a child a period of time ago, approximately thirty or forty years ago, at night, and it is not known how many times she breastfed him, and after the morning she breastfed him again, so what is the ruling?

The questioner : Noble Shaykh, a woman breastfed a child a period of time ago, approximately thirty or forty years ago, at night, and it is not known how many times she breastfed him, and after the morning she breastfed him again, so what is the ruling, I mean?

The Shaykh : And she does not know.

The questioner : No, she does not know.

The Shaykh : We will give you a rule based on the effect of breastfeeding: it does not become forbidden unless it is five known breastfeedings, as stated in the hadith of A'ishah: So if the wet nurse is unsure whether she breastfed this child or not, there is no consideration given to the breastfeeding. And if she is unsure whether she breastfed him five times or less, there is no consideration given to that. But if she is unsure whether she breastfed him five or six times, what do you say? I am asking you.

The questioner : How?

The Shaykh : The wet nurse is unsure whether she breastfed him five or six times.

The questioner : You take the five, certainly.

The Shaykh : And it becomes

The questioner : And it becomes her breastfeeding

The Shaykh : Yes, the breastfeeding becomes forbidden, yes. But if she is unsure whether it was four or five

The questioner : Do not take the lesser number.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, exactly.