Excerpt from the book: Ahkām wa Masā'il Kitāb o Sunnat ki Roshni Mein by Shaykh Mubashshir Ahmad Rabbani
My paternal aunt (father’s sister) has breastfed from my mother. Can I or my brother marry her daughter? Kindly explain in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Allah Almighty has declared seven relationships haram (prohibited) due to blood ties:
① Mother, ② Daughter, ③ Sister, ④ Maternal aunt, ⑤ Paternal aunt, ⑥ Niece (sister’s daughter), and ⑦ Niece (brother’s daughter).
And the same relationships that are forbidden due to lineage (nasab) also become forbidden due to breastfeeding (raḍāʿah) — that is:
✿ Foster-mother,
✿ Foster-daughter,
✿ Foster-sister,
✿ Foster-maternal aunt,
✿ Foster-paternal aunt,
✿ Foster-niece (through sister),
✿ Foster-niece (through brother).
There are clear and authentic narrations from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on this matter:
أن رسول الله صلی اللہ عليه وسلم أريد عليه ابنة حمزة أن يتزوجها فقال: "إنها ابنة أخي من الرضاعة، وإنه يحرم من الرضاعة ما يحرم من النسب"
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was proposed the daughter of Hamzah (for marriage), and he said:
‘She is the daughter of my brother through breastfeeding, and whatever is prohibited by lineage is also prohibited by breastfeeding.’”
[Musnad Aḥmad: 270/1: 249; Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ: 5100; Muslim: 1447]
قلت يا رسول الله! مالي أراك تنوق في قريش وتدعنا أن تزوج إلينا؟ قال: وعندك شيء؟ قلت: ابنة حمزة. قال: إنها ابنة أخي من الرضاعة
“I said: O Messenger of Allah! I see that you incline towards (marrying into) the Quraysh and avoid us. Will you not marry among us?
He ﷺ replied: ‘Do you have someone?’
I said: ‘The daughter of Ḥamzah.’
He said: ‘She is the daughter of my brother through breastfeeding.’”
[Musnad Aḥmad: 129/1, 115, 132, 126; Muslim: 1446]
That while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in her house, she heard a man seeking permission to enter the house of Ḥafṣah رضي الله عنها.
She said:
“O Messenger of Allah! This man is asking permission to enter your house.”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"I think it is so-and-so, the foster-uncle of Ḥafṣah."
ʿĀʾishah then asked:
“If so-and-so (my foster-uncle) had been alive, could he have come to me?”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"نعم، الرضاعة تحرم ما تحرم الولادة"
“Yes, breastfeeding makes unlawful what birth makes unlawful.”
[Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ: 5099; Muslim: 1464]
Her foster-uncle asked for permission to enter upon her, and she prevented him.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard of this, he said:
"لا تحتجبي منه، فإنه يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسب"
“Do not veil yourself from him, for what is forbidden by lineage is also forbidden by breastfeeding.”
[Muslim, Kitāb al-Raḍāʿah: 1445/9; al-Nasā’ī: 3303]
These authentic narrations clearly establish that breastfeeding (raḍāʿah) makes the same relationships unlawful as lineage (nasab).
However, note that for breastfeeding to be established, the child must have consumed enough milk to fill the stomach, and it must occur five times, as recorded in:
Sunan al-Nasā’ī, Bāb al-Qadr alladhī Yuḥarrim al-Raḍāʿah: 3309
If, in the questioner's situation, the paternal aunt (phuphi) has breastfed from his mother the number of times and amount that fulfills the legal requirements of raḍāʿah, then:
❖ The aunt becomes his foster-sister,
❖ And her daughter becomes his foster-niece.
Marriage with a foster-niece is prohibited — just as with a niece through lineage.
❖ Question:
My paternal aunt (father’s sister) has breastfed from my mother. Can I or my brother marry her daughter? Kindly explain in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah.
❖ Answer:
Allah Almighty has declared seven relationships haram (prohibited) due to blood ties:
① Mother, ② Daughter, ③ Sister, ④ Maternal aunt, ⑤ Paternal aunt, ⑥ Niece (sister’s daughter), and ⑦ Niece (brother’s daughter).
And the same relationships that are forbidden due to lineage (nasab) also become forbidden due to breastfeeding (raḍāʿah) — that is:
✿ Foster-mother,
✿ Foster-daughter,
✿ Foster-sister,
✿ Foster-maternal aunt,
✿ Foster-paternal aunt,
✿ Foster-niece (through sister),
✿ Foster-niece (through brother).
❖ Prophetic Evidence
There are clear and authentic narrations from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on this matter:
① Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
أن رسول الله صلی اللہ عليه وسلم أريد عليه ابنة حمزة أن يتزوجها فقال: "إنها ابنة أخي من الرضاعة، وإنه يحرم من الرضاعة ما يحرم من النسب"
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was proposed the daughter of Hamzah (for marriage), and he said:
‘She is the daughter of my brother through breastfeeding, and whatever is prohibited by lineage is also prohibited by breastfeeding.’”
[Musnad Aḥmad: 270/1: 249; Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ: 5100; Muslim: 1447]② Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه narrates:
قلت يا رسول الله! مالي أراك تنوق في قريش وتدعنا أن تزوج إلينا؟ قال: وعندك شيء؟ قلت: ابنة حمزة. قال: إنها ابنة أخي من الرضاعة
“I said: O Messenger of Allah! I see that you incline towards (marrying into) the Quraysh and avoid us. Will you not marry among us?
He ﷺ replied: ‘Do you have someone?’
I said: ‘The daughter of Ḥamzah.’
He said: ‘She is the daughter of my brother through breastfeeding.’”
[Musnad Aḥmad: 129/1, 115, 132, 126; Muslim: 1446]③ Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reports:
That while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in her house, she heard a man seeking permission to enter the house of Ḥafṣah رضي الله عنها.
She said:
“O Messenger of Allah! This man is asking permission to enter your house.”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"I think it is so-and-so, the foster-uncle of Ḥafṣah."
ʿĀʾishah then asked:
“If so-and-so (my foster-uncle) had been alive, could he have come to me?”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"نعم، الرضاعة تحرم ما تحرم الولادة"
“Yes, breastfeeding makes unlawful what birth makes unlawful.”
[Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ: 5099; Muslim: 1464]④ ʿUrwah narrates from ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
Her foster-uncle asked for permission to enter upon her, and she prevented him.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard of this, he said:
"لا تحتجبي منه، فإنه يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسب"
“Do not veil yourself from him, for what is forbidden by lineage is also forbidden by breastfeeding.”
[Muslim, Kitāb al-Raḍāʿah: 1445/9; al-Nasā’ī: 3303]❖ Legal Principle:
These authentic narrations clearly establish that breastfeeding (raḍāʿah) makes the same relationships unlawful as lineage (nasab).
However, note that for breastfeeding to be established, the child must have consumed enough milk to fill the stomach, and it must occur five times, as recorded in: Sunan al-Nasā’ī, Bāb al-Qadr alladhī Yuḥarrim al-Raḍāʿah: 3309❖ Ruling for This Case:
If, in the questioner's situation, the paternal aunt (phuphi) has breastfed from his mother the number of times and amount that fulfills the legal requirements of raḍāʿah, then:
❖ The aunt becomes his foster-sister,
❖ And her daughter becomes his foster-niece.
Marriage with a foster-niece is prohibited — just as with a niece through lineage.