Part 26

Q: A woman hired another suckling woman in order to suckle her daughter for a day or month. Is it permissible for the suckling woman’s son to marry this girl?

A: All praise be to Allah. If the girl was suckled five times during the first two years, the suckling woman becomes her mother and it is prohibited for her to get married to any of her sons born before or after she had been suckled according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars.

If anyone considers this to be permissible, he is to be invited for repentance. If he does not repent, he is to be killed. If this suckled girl has sisters from her mother, it is permissible for them to get married to any of the suckling woman’s sons according to the unanimous agreement of

Muslim scholars. Allah knows best.

A man married two wives and a baby was suckled by one of them. This man had a daughter born by the second wife. Now, is it permissible for the suckled person to marry this daughter? If they have already got married, is it permissible for the judge to separate between them?

Q: A man married two wives, one after the other, and a baby was suckled by the first. This man had a daughter born by the second wife. Is it permissible for the suckled person to marry this daughter? If they have already got married, is it permissible for the judge to separate between them? Is this a controversial point among scholars?

A: If the baby was suckled five times during the first two years, he is not allowed to marry this girl according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars.

If a man was not suckled by the mother of a girl neither was she suckled by his mother, but their younger brothers and sisters exchanged suckling

from both mothers, is it prohibited for this man to marry this girl?

Q: If a man was not suckled by the mother of a girl neither was she suckled by his mother, but their younger brothers and sisters exchanged suckling from both mothers, is it prohibited for this man to marry this girl? If he married her and she gave birth to a baby, what is the legal judgment? What is the scholars’ opinions in this regard?

A: All praise be to Allah. If the man was not suckled by her mother neither was she suckled by his mother, but his brothers and sisters were suckled by her mother and her brothers and sisters were suckled by his mother, it is permissible for him to marry her according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars. She is considered as the sister of his brother from his father.

Suckling leads to prohibiting some kinds of marriages as far as the suckled person and his offspring, the suckling woman and her husband are concerned. The suckling woman becomes the suckled person’s mother, her sons become his brothers whether born before or after he had been suckled, her husband becomes his father, and this husband’s sons become his brothers whether born before or after he had been suckled. As for the suckled person’s real parents, brothers and sisters, they are marriageable to his suckling mother, her husband and their children.

This opinion is delivered according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars, the four Juristic Schools, the companions and their followers. Some scholars adopt a different opinion that such suckled milk does not lead to prohibiting certain kinds of marriages, but traditions support the opinion of the Muslim scholars.

When one of two sisters is suckled with a boy, is it permissible for him to marry the second sister?

Q: There are two sisters; one of them has two daughters and the other has a son. One of these daughters was suckled with this son. Is it permissible for him to marry the second sister?

A: If one of the daughters was suckled by the mother of the son while he was not suckled by her mother, it is permissible for him to marry her sister according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars.

When a boy is suckled with a girl, is it permissible for his brother to marry her sister?

Q: A woman left her daughter with the wife of her brother. Upon her return, she asked: Have you suckled

her? She replied: “No” and swore that she had not. Her nephew as well as her daughter became old. Is it permissible for them to get married although the nephew has a brother who was suckled with the daughter’s other sister?

A: If the daughter was not suckled by the mother’s fiancé neither the fiancée was suckled by the daughter’s, it is permissible for them to marry each other even if the fiancée’s brothers and_. sisters are her brothers and sisters by suckling.

There is a unanimous agreement among Muslim scholars in this regard. When a baby is suckled by a women, she becomes his mother, her husband is his father and her children are his brothers and sisters. As for his real father, mother, brothers and sisters, it is permissible for any of them to marry any of his brothers or sisters by suckling, as it is permissible for a maternal sister to marry a paternal brother according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars. Allah knows best.

When a girl is suckled by her aunt, is it permissible for the aunt’s grandson to marry this girl?

Q: A married woman used to have milk in her breasts without giving birth or being pregnant and she suckled he:

niece five times during the first two years of her life. Is it permissible for this aunt’s grandson to marry this girl?

A: When a woman is married and she had intercourse with her husband and there has been milk in her breasts, suckling this milk leads to prohibiting some sorts of marriages. When a girl is suckled five time from this woman, she becomes her mother and this aunt’s grandson becomes the girls nephew and she is his aunt as well whether she was suckled with him or not. It is permissible for this grandson to marry the sister of this girl because she was not suckled by his grandmother.

When a mother denied that she suckled a girl married by her son, is it permissible to separate between them?

Q: A man engaged one of his relatives but her father said to him: “she was suckled with you”, and he refused to let him marry her. When the father died, he married her. Witnesses attest that the mother suckled him but later she

denied so and said: I have said so for a certain purpose. Was it permissible for the man to marry her?

A: If the mother was known for telling the truth and that she really suckled him five times, they should be separated if they had already married. This is the soundest opinion held by Muslim scholars. Imam Al-Bukhari reported: The Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered ~Uqbah bin AIHarith to divorce his wife when a black maiden mentioned that she suckled him and his wife.

If it is doubtful whether she tells the truth or not or there is doubt regarding how many times he was suckled, this is a dubious point which should be avoided. They. are not to be separated without a strong proof which necessitates such separation.

If the woman denied her saying before they got married, the wife is not prohibited for him. Yet, if it turns out that she was a liar in such denial and that she denied her saying for a certain purpose, it is not permissible for them to get married. Allah knows best.

After a man got married and had many children, he was told that his wife was suckled by his mother. What is the legal judgment on

Q: After a man got married and had many children, he was told that his wife was suckled by his mother. What is the legal judgment on this matter?

A: If the man who told him so is known for telling the truth and he knows full well what happened, and he said that the wife was suckled by the husband’s mother five times during the first two years, his saying is accepted. If he is not a truthful person, he saying is rejected. Allah knows best.

If a man was suckled by a woman when he was a baby and this woman has daughters younger than him, is it permissible for him to marry any of them?

Q: Ifa man was suckled by a woman when he was a baby and this woman has daughters younger than him, is it permissible for him to marry any of them?

A: If he was suckled by this woman five times during the first two years, he becomes a son of this woman. All children born after or before suckling him become his brothers and sisters according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars.

Is it permissible for a man to marry a girl who was suckled with his brother?

Q: A woman has a boy while her sister has a girl. The girl was suckled by the boy’s mother, but the reverse did not happen. Later, the boy’s mother gave birth to several girls while the girl’s mother gave birth to several boys. Is it permissible for one of the boy’s brothers to marry the girl who was suckled with his brother? Is it permissible for any of the others boys to marry any of the other girls?

A: All praise be to Allah. It is not permissible for the suckled girl to marry any of the boys of the woman who suckled her whether before or after suckling her. As for the girl’s brothers, they can marry any of this woman's daughters and vice versa. Any brother not suckled by this woman can marry any of her daughters. The suckled girl’s brothers could marry any of the boy’s sisters as long as none of them was suckled by the boy’s mother. Prohibition of marriage, in this case, is only restricted to the suckled person. He should not marry any of the daughters of the woman who suckled him. As for his brothers, they can marry any of these daughters. Allah knows best.