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Is a foster brother considered a mahram to his paternal half-sister, and are her paternal aunts considered his aunts?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If your brother nurses five times from your mother, your mother becomes his mother and your father his father, and your father’s daughters become his sisters, and your paternal aunts become his paternal aunts. This is known as Radā'at al-Faḥl (fosterage through the husband's milk). Prohibitions are established from the side of the nursing woman and the husband. Thus, the suckling child will have a father, a paternal uncle, and a paternal aunt through fosterage. The proof for this is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, affirmed that Aflaḥ was an uncle to Aisha through fosterage because he was her father's brother through fosterage. Therefore, that suckling brother from your mother is considered a brother to your sister from your father, and your paternal aunts by blood relation are considered his paternal aunts through fosterage.

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

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