What is the Ruling on Marrying Someone Whom his Sister has Breastfed?

Uploaded Jul 20, 2024

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Question

I have an older sister who is married and has children. And I have a maternal uncle who is married and has a daughter whom I love and want to marry. So, I got engaged to her through my uncle. After a few months of our engagement, my aforementioned sister remembered that she had breastfed her along with one of her children, so is it right for me to marry her, or not? Advise me - may Allāh bless you and reward you with all goodness - because I am confused, keeping in mind that my sister is from my mother and her father is another man. Advise us, thank you.

Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen

If the conditions of your sister’s breastfeeding of this girl were fulfilled, then you would be a maternal uncle to her, and this girl would not be permissible for you. And the conditions of breastfeeding are that it [should] be five breast-feedings before weaning. If your sister breastfed this girl - I mean your uncle's daughter - five times before she was weaned, she would become her daughter and you are her maternal uncle. So, she is not permissible for you (i.e., to marry). As for if the breast-feedings were less than five, then she is permissible for you according to the hadīth of ʿĀishah - may Allāh be pleased with her - in Sahīh Muslim, [where] she said: "It had been revealed in the Holy Qurʾān that ten clear sucklings make the marriage unlawful, then it was abrogated (and substituted) by five clear sucklings, and the matter remained upon that." Based on this, if your sister only breastfed her four times or less, then she wouldn’t be her daughter, and it is permissible for you to marry her.