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What is the legal ruling regarding the marriage of a man and a woman who discovered after 15 years that the man's maternal grandmother is also the woman's paternal grandmother, and that she breastfed him more than five times, knowing that they have four children over 40 years old?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If it is established that the husband was suckled by his wife's mother, then he is considered to have married his paternal niece through suckling (rada’a), which necessitates their separation. Suckling is established by the testimony of trustworthy witnesses or a reliable nursing woman. If there is doubt about the truthfulness of the nursing woman or the number of sucklings, separation is not decreed except with clear proof. The children are legally attributed to them, and it is advised to refer to the Sharia court for confirmation.

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

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