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What is the validity of the statement that prohibited breastfeeding is established by five sucklings of the breast, even if not satiating, and what is the ruling on marrying someone with whom one has breastfed once without knowing the number of sucklings?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars differed concerning the amount of breastfeeding that establishes prohibition. The Maliki and Hanafi schools held that prohibition is established the moment the wet nurse's milk reaches the infant's stomach, whether little or much, citing general texts such as Allah's saying: {and your mothers who suckled you and your sisters through suckling}, and the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "What is prohibited by lineage is prohibited by suckling." Whereas the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools maintained that prohibition is only established by five known sucklings, based on the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "Among what was revealed of the Qur'an were ten known sucklings that establish prohibition, then they were abrogated by five known sucklings." This latter opinion is the preferred one, and it is stipulated that the suckling must be satisfying, meaning the infant grasps the breast and suckles from it until he voluntarily releases it. Accordingly, the marriage is valid if the prohibitive suckling, according to the preferred view, has not occurred.

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

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