his wife exactly. Being eager for intercourse, he has intercourse with her without pausing to make sure, since all outward indications suggest that she is his wife.

If the woman with whom intercourse occurred under a mistaken belief of legitimacy becomes pregnant, bears a child, and then nurses a child with this milk, her milk undoubtedly establishes marital prohibition. This is because the man who had intercourse with her believes that she is his wife and that the intercourse was lawful; therefore, what results from it is lawful. Thus, the milk of a woman with whom intercourse occurred under a mistaken belief of legitimacy is like that of a woman married through an unquestionably valid marriage.

His statement, “or through a defective contract”: the milk of a woman with whom intercourse occurred through a defective contract is like that of a woman with whom intercourse occurred through a valid contract. For example, a man may marry a woman through a marriage whose invalidity is a matter of scholarly disagreement, not one upon whose invalidity the scholars are unanimous. If he has intercourse with her, she becomes pregnant, bears a child, produces milk, and nurses a child with it, we say that her milk is like that of a woman with whom intercourse occurred through a valid contract.

His statement, “or a void contract,” refers to a contract whose invalidity is unanimously agreed upon by the scholars. For example, a man may marry his wife’s daughter after having consummated the marriage with her mother, or marry his wife’s mother after his wife has died. Such a marriage is void, because her mother is permanently unlawful for him to marry. Nursing in this case has legal effect, but maternity is established without paternity.

His statement, “through fornication,” means a woman with whom intercourse occurred through fornication. For example, a woman commits fornication—may Allah protect us—and bears a child, then nurses another child with her milk. Does this nursing establish marital prohibition? The answer is yes: it establishes her as his mother, because she nursed him with her milk. If the child borne from her womb is her child, then the child nourished from her milk is likewise her child. However, he does not have a father, because the child of fornication is not ascribed to the fornicator. If even his son, created from his semen, is not ascribed to him,