Breastfeeding in Islamic Law: Ridaa and Its Legal Effects

Islamic law recognizes breastfeeding (ridaa or rada'ah) as creating legal kinship relationships between the nursing woman, her family, and the nursed child. The Quran states among those prohibited in marriage: "your mothers who nursed you and your sisters through nursing" (Quran 4:23). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "What is forbidden by reason of lineage (nasab) is also forbidden by reason of breastfeeding" (Sahih al-Bukhari). This means a child who is breastfed by a woman other than their biological mother gains a foster family with whom marriage and certain interactions are treated as if they were blood relatives.

Conditions for Establishing Rada'ah

For breastfeeding to establish legal kinship, specific conditions must be met. The most discussed is the number of feedings required. The Hanafi and Maliki schools hold that even one breastfeeding establishes the relationship, based on the general Quranic text. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools require five separate feedings, based on the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "Among what was revealed of the Quran was that ten known breastfeedings make forbidden, then this was abrogated by five known breastfeedings" (Sahih Muslim). The "five feedings" position is followed by many contemporary scholars.

Age Requirement

The breastfeeding must occur during the child's first two years of life. The Quran states: "Mothers shall breastfeed their children for two complete years" (Quran 2:233). The majority of scholars (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) restrict rada'ah that creates legal kinship to the first two lunar years. The Hanafi school extends this to two and a half years. Breastfeeding that occurs after this age does not create the mahram relationship, according to the majority. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "There is no breastfeeding except what penetrates the intestines (of the infant) before weaning" (Sunan al-Tirmidhi).

Legal Effects

Once rada'ah is established, the nursed child becomes a mahram to the nursing woman (becoming her foster son or daughter) and to her husband (the "owner of the milk," sahib al-laban, who becomes a foster father). The child also becomes a sibling to all the nursing woman's children, biological and foster. Marriage between these foster relatives is permanently prohibited. The nursing woman can remove her hijab in front of the foster child, and the foster child inherits the right to be alone with foster relatives of the opposite gender, just as with blood relatives. However, foster kinship does not create rights of inheritance or financial obligation.