Ruling on Marriage Between Foster Siblings in Islam

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Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amn Pūrī

✿ Question:

If a boy and girl get married and later discover they are foster (milk) siblings, what is the ruling?

✿ Answer:

Once it is confirmed that a prohibited relationship through Riḍāʿah (breastfeeding) exists between the two, immediate separation must take place. The marriage becomes invalid (فسخ).

❀ Evidence:

ʿUqbah bin Ḥārith رضي الله عنه narrated:

“I married the daughter of Abū Ayyāb (Umm Yaḥyā). A dark-skinned woman came and said, ‘I breastfed both of you (i.e., you and your wife).’
I went to the Prophet ﷺ to ask him about it. He turned his face away from me. I asked again, and he turned away again. On the third or fourth time, he ﷺ said:

‘How can she remain with you when it has been said that she breastfed both of you?’

Thus, the Prophet ﷺ prohibited me from remaining with my wife.”

📚 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2659

✔ Summary:

✦ If it is proven after marriage that the husband and wife were foster siblings (i.e., both nursed by the same woman),
✦ Their nikāḥ becomes invalid due to the prohibition of marriage between maḥram (non-marriageable) relations established through Riḍāʿah.
✦ Immediate separation is mandatory, as clearly commanded by the Prophet ﷺ.