Author: Imrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
Breastfeeding (raḍāʿah) establishes the same prohibitions of marriage as blood relations do.
Ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
«يحرم من الرضاعة ما يحرم من الولادة»
“Breastfeeding makes unlawful what birth makes unlawful.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 2644; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 1444; Sunan al-Dārimī, 2/155; ʿAbd al-Razzāq, 7/476; Musnad Aḥmad, 6/178)
For further details, see “The Statement of Prohibited Relations” in the Book of Nikāḥ.
Ḥadīth of ʿUqbah ibn al-Ḥārith رضي الله عنه:
He married Umm Yaḥyā bint Abī Ihāb رضي الله عنها. A woman came and said:
“I breastfed both of you.”
ʿUqbah asked the Prophet ﷺ about it, and he replied:
«كيف وقد قيل؟»
“How can you keep her as your wife now that it has been said (that breastfeeding occurred)?”
ʿUqbah then separated from her, and she married another man.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 2659–2660; Musnad Aḥmad, 4/8; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 3604; Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, 1151; Sunan al-Nasāʾī, 6/109; al-Ḥumaydī, 579; al-Dāraquṭnī, 4/175)
Imām al-Awzāʿī رحمه الله said: ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه separated four men from their wives in raḍāʿah cases based solely on the testimony of one woman.
(ʿAbd al-Razzāq, 7/482, Kitāb al-Ṭalāq, Bāb Shahādat Imraʾah ʿalā al-Raḍāʿ)
This view is also held by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما, al-Ṭāwūs, al-Zuhrī, al-Awzāʿī, Ibn Abī Dhʾīb, and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
The testimony of even one breastfeeding woman is accepted in matters of raḍāʿah, as proven by the authentic ḥadīth of ʿUqbah ibn al-Ḥārith رضي الله عنه mentioned above.
General Rule from the Sunnah
Breastfeeding (raḍāʿah) establishes the same prohibitions of marriage as blood relations do.
Ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
«يحرم من الرضاعة ما يحرم من الولادة»
“Breastfeeding makes unlawful what birth makes unlawful.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 2644; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 1444; Sunan al-Dārimī, 2/155; ʿAbd al-Razzāq, 7/476; Musnad Aḥmad, 6/178)
For further details, see “The Statement of Prohibited Relations” in the Book of Nikāḥ.
Case Example
Ḥadīth of ʿUqbah ibn al-Ḥārith رضي الله عنه:
He married Umm Yaḥyā bint Abī Ihāb رضي الله عنها. A woman came and said:
“I breastfed both of you.”
ʿUqbah asked the Prophet ﷺ about it, and he replied:
«كيف وقد قيل؟»
“How can you keep her as your wife now that it has been said (that breastfeeding occurred)?”
ʿUqbah then separated from her, and she married another man.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 2659–2660; Musnad Aḥmad, 4/8; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 3604; Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, 1151; Sunan al-Nasāʾī, 6/109; al-Ḥumaydī, 579; al-Dāraquṭnī, 4/175)
Ruling of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنه
Imām al-Awzāʿī رحمه الله said: ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه separated four men from their wives in raḍāʿah cases based solely on the testimony of one woman.
(ʿAbd al-Razzāq, 7/482, Kitāb al-Ṭalāq, Bāb Shahādat Imraʾah ʿalā al-Raḍāʿ)
This view is also held by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما, al-Ṭāwūs, al-Zuhrī, al-Awzāʿī, Ibn Abī Dhʾīb, and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
Opinions of the Schools
- Imām al-Shāfiʿī: The testimony of fewer than four women is not accepted, because two women equal the testimony of one man.
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah: Accepts only two men, or one man and two women.
- His proof is the Qurʾānic verse:
﴿ وَاسْتَشْهِدُوا شَهِيدَيْنِ مِن رِّجَالِكُمْ ﴾ (al-Baqarah, 282) – “Call two witnesses from among your men.”
- His proof is the Qurʾānic verse:
Preferred (Rājiḥ) View
The testimony of even one breastfeeding woman is accepted in matters of raḍāʿah, as proven by the authentic ḥadīth of ʿUqbah ibn al-Ḥārith رضي الله عنه mentioned above.
