Ruling on marrying a person with whom one was breastfed, other than one’s mother

Question:
From the city of Al-Ayn in the United Arab Emirates, this message was received by the program from one of the female listeners there. She says, Amina Ali: I am a woman—this is her message—I breastfed a boy and a girl, knowing that I have no blood relation to them, and there is no connection between us. I breastfed the boy at my son’s house and the girl at my daughter’s house. The boy married the girl, and I informed them that this marriage is not permissible because they are siblings through breastfeeding, but they did not listen. What is the ruling, and have I fulfilled what is required of me regarding that marriage? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
If you breastfed the aforementioned male and female five times while they were within the two-year period, they are siblings, as I said. If you breastfed each of them five times or more while they were within the two-year period, they are siblings, and it is not permissible for the male to marry the aforementioned female because she is his sister.
A breastfeed is defined as holding the breast and sucking the milk, then releasing it, then returning to it until five are completed in one sitting or multiple sittings, in one day or multiple days. If the child breastfed from you five times, and in each breastfeed he sucked the breast and took the milk, then released the breast, then returned in that sitting or in another sitting and breastfed from you until he completed five or more, then he is your son and you are his mother through breastfeeding.
Likewise, if the girl breastfed from you five times or more, and in each breastfeed she held the breast and sucked the milk, which went into her stomach, then she released the breast, then returned after that in one sitting or in other sittings until she completed five or more, then she is your daughter and you are her mother, and both are siblings. They are siblings to all of your children.
It is incumbent upon the one who knows this to separate them if he has married her. It is incumbent upon the one who knows this to separate them because the marriage of a male to his sister through breastfeeding is invalid. This is because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has forbidden sisters through breastfeeding by the explicit text of the Noble Book, and His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it, saying: . Therefore, the authorities in your country should look into the matter, and the court should examine this. If the court sees that you are trustworthy and that your statement is accepted, then it is up to them, and they must separate them. If the court sees otherwise, meaning the court sees that your statement is not accepted for reasons the court has identified, then it is up to the court and within the court’s discretion. What the court sees in your Sharia courts is sufficient, if Allah wills.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.