I am a man who has a sister through breastfeeding, and her father and mother are still alive. I am her guardian, and I believe he means her family. There is hatred between me and them over trivial matters.

The questioner : I am a man who has a sister through breastfeeding, and her mother and father are still alive. I am her guardian, and I believe he means her family. There is hatred between me and them over trivial matters. Is it obligatory for me to treat my sister as I treat my brothers from my mother and father? He gives an example, saying: If I return from a trip, am I required to buy for her what I buy for my other brothers? I ask for an answer.

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that breastfeeding creates a bond between the one who was breastfed and the one who breastfed him, and it establishes prohibitions of marriage. However, this bond is not like the bond of blood kinship. The bond of the breastfeeding side is not like the bond of the kinship side. But there is no doubt that it is a known good and a virtue for a person to fulfill the rights of those who have a right upon him and a bond with him, giving them what is due to them according to their right. For that is the justice commanded in His saying: However, it is not like the bond of your sister by blood, meaning by kinship, or your mother or your father or the like. Yes.

The questioner : This message came from Jeddah from al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr.