Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (13/448)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

and, if she is his wife, her marriage to him is annulled. Every woman who invalidates her own marriage through breastfeeding before consummation is not entitled to any dowry. The same applies if she is a young child who crawls over and nurses from a sleeping woman, …

His statement, “and, if she is his wife, her marriage to him is annulled,” may be illustrated as follows: A man has a baby daughter, and another man sees her and says, “Marry her to me.” So he gives her to him in marriage and concludes the marriage contract with this nursing infant. Then the sister of the man who married the girl comes and nurses her. The girl thereby becomes his sister’s daughter, and he is her maternal uncle; thus, the marriage is annulled. His sister has invalidated his marriage, since his sister’s daughter is forbidden to him in marriage. The husband must pay half the dowry, because the marriage was annulled for a reason not attributable to the wife; but he may recover it from his sister who invalidated the marriage. He may say to her, “You are the one who harmed me and annulled the marriage, so you are liable for half the dowry.”

His statement, “Every woman who invalidates her own marriage through breastfeeding before consummation is not entitled to any dowry,” is also a general rule: every woman who invalidates her own marriage by breastfeeding before consummation is not entitled to a dowry.

An example is a man who has an adult wife with breast milk attributable to another man, and who then marries a young girl. He thus has two wives: an older wife who nurses and a younger wife who is nursed. The older wife then nurses the younger one, thereby invalidating her own marriage, because she has become the mother of his wife, and a wife’s mother is forbidden to the husband. In this case, the marriage has not been consummated, and a dowry—for example, forty thousand riyals—had been specified for her. This dowry is forfeited, because the woman herself invalidated her marriage. As for the young girl, her marriage remains valid, because he has not consummated the marriage with her mother; a wife’s daughter becomes forbidden only if he has consummated the marriage with her mother. Accordingly, the young girl’s marriage remains valid, while the marriage of the nursing woman is annulled. As for the dowry stipulated for the wife who

وَفَسَخَتْ نِكَاحَهَا مِنْهُ إِنْ كَانَتْ زَوْجَةً، وَكُلُّ امْرَأَةٍ أَفْسدتْ نِكاحَ نَفْسِها بِرَضَاعٍ قَبْلَ الدُّخُولِ فَلَا مَهْرَ لَهَا، وَكَذَا إِنْ كَانَتْ طِفْلَةً فَدَبَّتْ فَرَضَعَتْ مِنْ نَائِمَةٍ، .................................... قوله: «وفَسَخَتْ نكاحَها منه إن كانت زوجة» مثاله: إنسان وُلدت له طفلة فرآها رجل فقال: زوِّجنيها، فزوَّجه وعقد له النكاح على هذه الطفلة التي ترضع، فجاءت أخت الرجل الذي تزوج الطفلة فأرضعت الطفلة، فصارت الطفلة الآن بنت أخته فهو خالها، فينفسخ النكاح، فأفسدت أختُه عليه النكاح؛ لأن بنت أخته تحرم عليه، ويلزم الزوج نصف المهر؛ لأنه انفسخ النكاح بغير سبب من الزوجة، لكن يأخذه من أخته التي أفسدت النكاح، فيقول: أنت التي جنيت عليَّ وفسختِ النكاح فعليك نصف المهر. قوله: «وكُلُّ امرأة أَفْسَدَتْ نِكَاحَ نَفْسِهَا بِرَضَاعٍ قَبْلَ الدُّخُولِ فَلا مَهْرَ لَهَا» هذا ـ أيضاً ـ ضابط، فكل امرأة أفسدت نكاح نفسها برضاع قبل الدخول فليس لها مهر. مثال ذلك: رجل له زوجة كبيرة فيها لبن من غيره وتزوج طفلة صغيرة، فصار عنده زوجتان كبيرة تُرضِع، وصغيرة تَرضَع، فقامت الكبيرة وأرضعت الصغيرة، فأفسدت الكبيرة نكاحها؛ لأنها صارت أم زوجة، وأم الزوجة حرام على الزوج، والمسألة الآن قبل الدخول، وقد عين لها مهراً قيمته أربعون ألف ريال مثلاً، فإن هذا المهر يسقط؛ لأن المرأة هي التي أفسدت نكاح نفسها، وبالنسبة للطفلة يبقى نكاحها؛ لأنه ما دخل على أمها، وبنت الزوجة لا تحرم إلا إذا دخل بأمها؛ وعلى هذا فيبقى نكاح الطفلة وينفسخ نكاح المرضعة، وأما المهر الذي سمي للزوجة التي