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What is legally required concerning the marriage of a man to his maternal aunt's daughter, with whom he has two children, after it became clear that he was suckled by her grandmother (the mother of the wife's mother) for one month, knowing that witnesses confirmed that the suckling occurred within the first two years of life and that the amount of milk was small, and knowing that he follows the Maliki school of thought and desires a clear fatwa to remove his doubt?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The fatwa we adopt is that what constitutes a prohibited degree of kinship through breastfeeding is five known رضعات (breastfeeds). Doubt regarding the number of breastfeeds does not establish prohibition.

Therefore, that woman is not prohibited for this man unless it is confirmed that he breastfed from his grandmother five known breastfeeds. If he is certain that he breastfed less than this number, or if he doubts the number of breastfeeds, she is not prohibited for him, and separation between them is not obligatory.

If he wishes to be cautious, he may separate from her, as the view of many scholars is that a small amount of breastfeeding and a large amount are equal in establishing prohibition.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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