Miscellaneous Issues of Suckling.

2634. 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.

2635. Those who are related because of suckling should respect each other as a recommendatory act, but they do not inherit from each other and other rights of ordinary relatives do not apply to them.

2636. It is recommended, if possible, that a child is suckled for full for 2 full years.

2637. 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. But she may not suckle a child, which causes her husband to become Haraam to her. For example, the child of another woman who is married to her husband, because she becomes his husband’s mother in law.

2638. 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 2619.

2639. If a man says before marrying a woman, that the woman he is marrying is his milk sister, she is Haraam for him, if his statement is verified as true. 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 according to the usual Mahr of other women like her.

2640. 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 sys 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.

2641. Suckling a child, which becomes the cause of being Mahram, can be established by the following two ways:

I. Information in this behalf by a number of persons whose word is reliable.

II. Two just men 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 2619. Witness by one man or two or four women, even if they are Adil, is a matter of Ishkal for establishing that the child has suckled from a particular woman.

2642. If it is doubled 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.