Husband Drinks Wife’s Milk Islam New

Does Husband Drinking Wife’s Milk Break Nikah? Islamic Ruling

If a husband drinks his wife’s milk, will he become her son? And will their Nikah (marriage) break?

Answer:

Alhamdulillah

If a husband sucks his wife’s milk, the wife will not become prohibited (Haram) to him. Prohibition through breastfeeding (Rada’ah) is only established when five satisfying feeds are consumed within the first two years of age. Conversely, if a child older than two years or an adult man drinks a woman’s milk, that milk does not establish the bond of breastfeeding (Rada’ah). The practice of the Sahaba (Companions) and others is also upon this: that prohibition is only established by breastfeeding that occurs under two years of age, and prohibition is not established after the age of two.

Abu Atiyah al-Wada’i (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that a man came to Abdullah bin Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said:

“I was with my wife and her milk was retained in her breasts, so I began to suck it and spit it out. Later, I went to Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him, ‘I have sucked my wife’s milk.’ Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari replied, ‘Your wife has now become prohibited to you.'”

Hearing this entire account, Ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) held the man’s hand and said to Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him):

“Reflect upon your fatwa. Do you consider him a breastfeeding infant? Breastfeeding is only that which produces flesh and bone.”

Then Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Do not ask me about anything as long as this Hibr al-Ummah (Scholar of the Nation), Ibn Masud, is present among you.”

(Musannaf Abdur Razzaq (7/463 Hadith No. 1389)

(Muwatta Imam Malik, Hadith No. 1777)

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 4114)

And Imam Malik has also narrated in Muwatta (2/603) from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that:

“Breastfeeding is only for the one who was breastfed in childhood; the breastfeeding of an adult does not count.”

Its chain of narration (Sanad) is Sahih (authentic).

Abdullah bin Dinar (may Allah have mercy on him) states:

“A man came to Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and I was with him. They came to the court of judgment and he began asking about the breastfeeding of an adult (Al-Kabir). Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘A man came to Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and said, “I had a slave girl with whom I used to have intercourse. My wife breastfed this slave girl. When I went to her, my wife said, ‘Stay away from her! By Allah, I have breastfed her.'”

Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Punish your wife and go to your slave girl, for breastfeeding is only for the child.”‘”

(Muwatta Imam Malik, 2/603)

Its chain is Sahih.

The scholars of the Saudi Fatwa Committee also state:

“It is permissible for a husband to suck his wife’s breast. The milk entering his stomach does not cause prohibition.”

• Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz.
• Sheikh Abdur Razzaq Afifi.
• Sheikh Abdullah bin Ghudayan.
• Sheikh Abdullah bin Qa’ud.

And Sheikh Muhammad Salih Al-Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) says:

“The breastfeeding of an adult is not effective; because effective breastfeeding is five or more feeds during the first two years of age before weaning. The breastfeeding of an adult is not effective. Based on this, if it is assumed that a person drinks his wife’s milk or sucks her breast, he will not become her son in this manner.”

(See: Fatawa Islamiyah 3/338)

Therefore, from all these Hadiths of the Sahaba and the Fatwas of the scholars, it is understood that if a husband sucks his wife’s milk, whether by mistake or intentionally, and it goes into his stomach, their Nikah (marriage) will not break, nor will he become her son.

It is a separate matter that a woman’s milk is for a child, not for a man.

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Clarification of a Doubt

Some individuals, due to a specific incident, claim that if any adult man drinks the milk of a woman, breastfeeding (Rada’ah) is established. This statement is incorrect.

Read the following Hadiths for details regarding this!!

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), used to live with them in their house. Sahla bint Suhail came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said:

“O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), Salim has grown up, and he understands what men understand, and he enters upon us. I feel that Abu Hudhayfah is displeased by his entering.”

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

“Breastfeed him, and you will become unlawful (Mahram) to him, and what is in Abu Hudhayfah’s heart will vanish.”

She came back later and said that she breastfed him, and the displeasure vanished from Abu Hudhayfah’s face.”

(Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 1453)

And in another narration of Sahih Muslim:

“Sahla said: ‘He has a beard.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Breastfeed him, Abu Hudhayfah’s displeasure will vanish.'”

Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) had adopted Salim before the prohibition of adoption was revealed. The Hadith does not specify how Salim drank the milk or how he was fed.

Imam Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in the explanation of Muslim:

“The statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘Breastfeed him.’

Qadi says: It appears that she extracted the milk and gave it to Salim to drink, and Salim did not touch Sahla’s breast nor her body.

This statement of Qadi seems better and good. It is also possible that due to necessity and need, permission was granted to touch, just as permission for breastfeeding was granted despite him being an adult.” Wallahu A’alam. End quote.

Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them) took this Hadith and did not consider it specific to Salim, but the rest of the Mothers of the Believers rejected this.

It is narrated in Sahih Muslim from Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) that she used to say:

“All the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) refused to let anyone enter upon them through this breastfeeding. They said to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): ‘By Allah, we consider this to be a special concession that the Prophet (peace be upon him) granted only to Salim. Therefore, no one can enter upon us through this breastfeeding.'”

(Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 1454)

Abu Dawood (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from the Mothers of the Believers Aisha and Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with them) that Abu Hudhayfah bin Utbah bin Rabi’ah bin Abd Shams had adopted Salim, and he married him to his brother’s daughter, Hind bint Walid bin Utbah bin Rabi’ah. Salim was the freed slave of an Ansari woman. Just as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had adopted Zaid. In the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), if a person adopted a son, people would call him by the adoptive father’s lineage and attribute him to him, and he would inherit from him.

Until Allah Azza wa Jal sent down the command regarding this:

(Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers - then they are your brothers in religion and your entrusted friends.)

(Surah Al-Ahzab (5))

So return them to their biological fathers. And he whose father is unknown, he is your brother in religion and friend.

Thus, Sahla bint Suhail bin Amr Qurashi Aamiri, who was the wife of Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said:

“O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): We considered Salim to be our son, and he lives in the same house with me and Abu Hudhayfah, and he sees me in a single garment. And Allah Azza wa Jal has sent down the command regarding them which you know. So what is your opinion regarding him?”

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to her: “Breastfeed him.”

So Sahla breastfed him five times, and thus he became her foster son. Based on this, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) used to order her nieces and her brothers’ daughters that if she wanted to see someone and allow him to enter upon her, they should breastfeed him, even if he was an adult. They would breastfeed him five times and then he would enter upon Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). But Umm Salama and all the other Mothers of the Believers refused to allow anyone to enter upon them based on this breastfeeding, unless he was breastfed in infancy. They used to say to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): “We do not know, perhaps this was a special permission from the Prophet (peace be upon him) solely for Salim.”

(Sunan Abu Dawood Hadith No. 2061). This Hadith is Sahih; Allama Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) declared it Sahih in Sahih Sunan Abu Dawood.

The majority (Jumhoor) answer the Hadith of Salim by saying: This is specific to Salim, as is the saying of the other Mothers of the Believers, or it is abrogated (Mansukh).

And Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) combined these two opinions saying: Breastfeeding in adulthood is not effective or valid, but when there is a necessity and need for it, then it will be effective.

Al-San’ani (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in Subul al-Salam:

“Regarding Sahla and the conflicting second Hadith, the best and most excellent reconciliation is that which is the speech of Ibn Taymiyyah. He says:

Breastfeeding in childhood is the only valid reckoning. However, if there is a need and necessity for it—for example, an adult man has no choice but to enter upon a woman, and it is difficult and causes hardship for the woman to observe Purdah (hijab) from him, just as was the issue of Salim with the wife of Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him)—then if such an adult is breastfed due to necessity and need, the breastfeeding will be effective. But without such necessity, breastfeeding in childhood is necessary.” End quote.

“Because reconciling between two Hadiths is better, and visibly, treating it as neither purely specific nor abrogated allows for acting upon this Hadith without contradiction.” End quote.

(See: Subul al-Salam (2/313))

And Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) also went towards this reconciliation. He says:

“This is better than calling it abrogated or declaring it specific to a certain person, and it is closer to acting upon all Hadiths in both respects, and the Shariah rules and principles also witness to it. And Allah is the Granter of Tawfiq.” End quote.

(See: Zad al-Ma’ad (5/593))

The fatwa of contemporary scholars is that the breastfeeding of an adult has no benefit. Sheikh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) and the Permanent Fatwa Committee also hold the fatwa that this was specific to Salim.

(See: Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah lil-Buhuth al-Ilmiyyah wal-Ifta (21/41 – 102) and Majmoo Fatawa Ibn Baz (22/264))

And Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) chose the view that this Hadith is not specific to Salim, but rather it would apply to anyone whose situation is like Salim’s. However, this is no longer possible now, because Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala has made adoption Haram (forbidden). Thus, this view now aligns with the view of the majority that prohibition is not established by the breastfeeding of an adult.

The Sheikh (may Allah have mercy on him) says in Al-Sharh al-Mumti’:

“And according to me: Breastfeeding of an adult is absolutely ineffective. However, if we see a situation that is exactly like the situation of Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) in every aspect… but at this time, this is not possible because adoption has been nullified…”

Therefore, the summary of all this is that:

After the prohibition of adoption, we say: Breastfeeding of an adult will not be effective. Rather, for breastfeeding, it is necessary to be within two years of age, or before weaning. And this is the correct (Rajih) view. End quote, summarized.

(See: Al-Sharh al-Mumti’ 13/43 – 436)

(And Allah Ta’ala knows best what is correct)

Reference: https://alfurqan.info/problems/610