In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. There is no power nor strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.
The Book of Breastfeeding
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: “Forbidden to you in marriage are your mothers and your daughters” [al-Nisā’: 23], continuing through to His words: “Your mothers who nursed you and your sisters through nursing” [al-Nisā’: 23]. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “What is forbidden through birth is also forbidden through breastfeeding.”
These words of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, explained what is in the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and further elaborated its meaning. They demonstrated that all relationships that prohibit marriage through blood kinship also prohibit it through breastfeeding according to the Book of Allah Most High, even though Allah, Mighty and Majestic, explicitly mentioned only the mother and sister. By mentioning the sister, He indicated that the prohibition arising from breastfeeding is not confined to the woman who actually nurses the child, but extends to all relationships that prohibit marriage through blood kinship. In meaning and by analogy, there is no distinction between the sister and these other relatives that would prevent the prohibition arising from breastfeeding from extending to them all.
His words also demonstrated that milk establishes marriage prohibitions through both the nursing woman and the man whose semen gave rise to the milk. This is understood from his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “What is forbidden through birth is also forbidden through breastfeeding.” It is also established by the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: “By a father and what he begot” [al-Balad: 3].
It is well known that a father does not give birth to his children by carrying and delivering them as the mother does. Rather, he begets them through his semen, from which pregnancy and milk result. He thereby becomes a father, just as the woman becomes a mother through pregnancy and childbirth. Thus, if she nurses a child with the milk attributable to him, she becomes that child’s mother and he becomes its father.
Concerning this, an authentic hadith has been transmitted from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, which resolves the difficulty and leaves no room for ambiguity: “From ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, Mother of