Miscellaneous rules regarding nursing a child

2498. It is recommended that a woman avoids suckling any and every child, because it is possible that she may forget as to which of them she has suckled, and later the two persons, who are Mahram to each other, may contract marriage.

2499. It is recommended, that those who have become relative to each other due to suckling, they should respect each other, however they do not inherit anything from each other and other rights which one has on his real relatives, does not have on his milk relatives.   

2500. It is recommended, if possible, that a child is suckled for full 2 years.

2501. If the right of the husband is not in any way violated by suckling, a wife may suckle the child of another person without the permission of her husband. However, it is not permissible for a wife to suckle a child due to which she becomes Haraam for his own husband. For example, if a man contracts Nikah with a suckling girl, and

the wife of that man suckles her, then it is considered that the wife becomes the mother – in – law of her husband, and therefore, becomes Haraam for him.

2502. If a person wants that his sister – in – law (his brother’s wife) may become his Mahram, he may contract a temporary Nikah with a suckling girl, for example, for two days, and during those two days, the wife of his brother may suckle that girl as mentioned in rule no. 2483.

2503. If a man says before marrying a woman, that the woman he is marrying is his milk sister, she is Haraam for him, and if it is possible to verify his statement as true, then he cannot marry that woman. And if he says this after the marriage, and the woman also confirms his word, the marriage is void.
Hence, if the man has not had sexual intercourse with her, or has had sexual intercourse but at the time of sexual intercourse the woman knew that she was Haraam for him, she is not entitled to any Mahr. And if she learns after sexual intercourse that she was Haraam for the man, the husband should pay her Mahr, if Mahr Al – Musamma (Mahr which is fixed at the time of Nikah) varies from Mahr Al - Misl (Mahr equal to that of the women similar to her category), in payment of Mahr, they should compromise with each other.

2504. If a woman says, before marriage, that she is Haraam for a man because she is his milk sister, and if it is possible to verify her statement as true, she cannot marry that man. And if she says this after marriage, it is like the man saying after marriage that the woman is Haraam for him, and the rule in this situation has been given in the foregoing clause.

2505. Suckling a child, which becomes the cause of being Mahram, can be established by the following two ways:

1. Information in this behalf by a number of persons whose word is reliable.
2. Two just men or four just women testify to this fact. It is, however, necessary that they should also mention the conditions of suckling the child. For example, they should be able to say, “We have seen the child for twenty-four hours, sucking milk from the breasts of a woman, and during this time he has not eaten anything else.” And similarly, they should also narrate in detail, the conditions which have been mentioned in rule no. 2483.

2506. If it is doubted whether or not a child has sucked the quantity of milk which becomes the cause of becoming Mahram, or if it is considered probable that it might have sucked that quantity of milk, the child does not become Mahram of anyone, though it is better to observe precaution.