The ruling on a woman covering herself from her father’s paternal cousin and her brother through breastfeeding

Question:
I am the listener (N. M. A.) from the Najaf Governorate in Iraq. I have some religious questions that I hope you will graciously answer. She describes herself as saying: I am a woman who wears the hijab, and I know the principles of the hijab, but I have my maternal aunt’s son, who is one year younger than me. I breastfed from his mother when I was a child for approximately five months, and his sister also breastfed from my mother. So, does he become my brother through breastfeeding, and is it permissible for me not to cover myself in front of him? Also, I have my mother’s paternal cousin and my father’s paternal cousin, and they are two men of approximately my father’s age. Since childhood, I have called them my uncle and my maternal uncle. Do I have to cover myself in front of them?

Answer:
Yes, yes, you must cover yourself in front of your paternal cousin and your maternal cousin, even if you lived with them for a long time. You must cover yourself in front of them because they are not mahram to you.

The presenter : He is her father’s paternal cousin.

The Shaykh : Her father’s paternal cousin and her mother’s paternal cousin are not mahram to her, and likewise her own paternal cousin and her maternal aunt’s son; they are all non-mahram. As for your maternal aunt’s son, whom you breastfed from his mother for five months, he is a mahram to you. He is your brother because you breastfed from his mother, so he is your brother, and you do not have to cover yourself in front of him; rather, he is your brother. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
The point is that the son of a maternal aunt, or anyone other than the son of a maternal aunt, whenever he breastfed from your mother, or you breastfed from his mother, with complete breastfeeding, five breastfeedings or more, he becomes your brother through breastfeeding. Whether he breastfed from your mother, or you breastfed from his mother, or from his sister, he becomes a mahram to you. If it was from his mother, he is your brother. If you breastfed from his sister, he is your maternal uncle, because you breastfed from his sister, so he becomes your maternal uncle.
The conclusion is that breastfeeding is like kinship, exactly the same. This is due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . So you do not have to cover yourself in front of him. As for your father’s paternal cousin, your father’s maternal cousin, your maternal cousin, and your paternal cousin, if there is no breastfeeding between you and any of them, they are all non-mahram to you, so you must cover yourself in front of them.

The presenter : May Allah reward you with good.