Question :
How does one become a mahram due to breastfeeding?
Answer :
The shaykh hafidhahullah responded by saying,
” Allah has said :
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الْأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الْأُخْتِ وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ
‘ Forbidden to you (for marriage) are: your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father’s sisters, your mother’s sisters, your brother’s daughters, your sister’s daughters, your foster mother who breastfed you.. ‘ (Suratun Nisaa 23)
So if someone has been breastfed by a woman five times which fulfill him and he becomes full from it, then she becomes a mother for that child and her husband becomes a father for that child. Their children become brothers ( and sisters) for that child and her brothers become uncles for that child and so forth. He enters into their family and he becomes from their maharim. Also, the Messenger of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasallam said:
يَحْرُمُ مِنَ الرَّضَاعِ مَا يَحْرُمُ مِنَ النَّسَبِ
‘Breast-feeding makes unlawful (for marriages) the same things that blood tie make unlawful.’ (Ibn majah 1937,graded saheeh.Hadith present with a slightly different wording in Saheehayn)
So as the one is not allowed to marry his immediate (close) family relatives, likewise, he is not allowed to marry them if they have entered into (realm of) breastfeeding. This also has conditions. From them are, that the breastfeeding is done at a young age (as a child) when he was in need of breastfeeding (transcriber’s note: Between the ages of birth up to 2 years old). As the Messenger of Allah sallalahu alayhi wa sallam said:
لاَ رَضَاعَ إِلاَّ مَا فَتَقَ الأَمْعَاءَ
‘There is no breastfeeding except that which fills the stomach’ (Ibn Majah 1946,Saheeh, the shaykh quotes an hadith with an additional wording mentioning the growing of bones)
Hafiz Ibn Rajab rahimahullah has very beneficial statements regarding this hadith in his Jami Uloom wal Hikam.
Answered by : Shaykh Abu Ishaaq Al Qaysee hafidhahullah