No Legal Effect of Breastfeeding After Two Years – Sharʿī Ruling
📚 Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Vol. 1, Pg. 734
❖ Question:
What is the ruling from the scholars of Islam regarding a case where a child older than two years drinks a woman’s milk repeatedly—
Does this establish the prohibition of breastfeeding (ḥurmat al-riḍāʿah)? Please issue a fatwa based on Islamic law.
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
The maximum time limit for establishing legal prohibition through breastfeeding (ḥurmat al-riḍāʿah) is two years only.
Therefore, if a child consumes breast milk after the age of two, it does not result in any legal prohibition.
❖ Qur’anic Evidence:
﴿وَالْوَالِدَاتُ يُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ﴾
“Mothers shall breastfeed their children for two full years…”
📖 (Surah al-Baqarah: 233)
This verse establishes two complete years as the Sharʿī limit for valid breastfeeding.
❖ Prophetic Evidences:
➊ Ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
The Prophet ﷺ once entered upon ʿĀʾishah while a man was present. His expression changed as if he disliked it.
ʿĀʾishah said: “He is my milk-brother.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
“Be careful when claiming milk-relations. Breastfeeding only establishes prohibition when it satisfies hunger in infancy.”
📚 (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book: Whoever Says There is No Riḍāʿah After Two Years; Vol. 2, Pg. 464)
—
➋ Ḥadīth of Umm Salamah رضي الله عنها:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“No breastfeeding causes prohibition except that which opens the intestines (i.e., nourishes the child) and occurs before weaning.”
📚 (Tuhfat al-Aḥwadhī, Chapter: Breastfeeding Causes Prohibition Only in Infancy; Pg. 201)
Imām al-Tirmidhī remarked:
“This ḥadīth is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. Most scholars from among the Ṣaḥābah, Tābiʿīn, and others agree that riḍāʿah only causes prohibition if done within the first two years.”
✅ Conclusion:
➤ If a child drinks breast milk after completing two years of age, no prohibition (ḥurmah) of breastfeeding is established.
➤ Therefore, in the case in question:
If the child was older than two years, then no familial ties through breastfeeding are established, and marriage remains permissible.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
