Ruling 2482

If a woman breastfeeds a child and fulfils the conditions that will be stated in Ruling 2492, the child becomes maḥram¹ to the women mentioned below if the child is a boy, or to the men mentioned below if the child is a girl:

1. the woman herself; she is called the ‘nursing mother’ (murḍiʿah);
2. the nursing mother’s husband to whom the milk is related;² he is called the ‘nursing father’ (ṣāḥib al‐laban);
3. the father and mother of the nursing mother [and her grandparents], however many generations they go back, even if they are her nursing mother and father [or her nursing grandparents];
4. the children who have been born to the nursing mother or who will be born in the future;
5. the offspring of the woman’s biological children, however many generations they go forward, whether they [i.e. the offspring of the other generations] are their biological children or their nursing children;
6. the sisters and brothers of the nursing mother, even if they are nursing sisters and brothers, meaning that they have become sisters and brothers of the nursing mother due to having been breastfed by the same woman;
7. the paternal uncles and the paternal aunts of the nursing mother, even if they are nursing paternal uncles and paternal aunts;
8. the maternal uncles and the maternal aunts of the nursing mother, even if they are nursing maternal uncles and maternal aunts;
9. the offspring of the nursing mother’s husband to whom the milk is related [i.e. the nursing father], however many generations they go forward, even if they are his nursing offspring;
10. the father and mother of the nursing father [and his grandparents], however many generations they go back;
11. the sisters and brothers of the nursing father, even if they are his nursing sisters and brothers;

12. the paternal uncles and the paternal aunts and the maternal uncles and the maternal aunts of the nursing father, however many generations they go back, even if they are his nursing uncles and aunts. 

    Some other people also become maḥram on account of breastfeeding, as will be explained in the subsequent rulings.

    ¹ A maḥram is a person one is never permitted to marry on account of being related to them in a particular way, such as being their parent or sibling.

    ² The phrase ‘to whom the milk is related’ and its variations refer to the man with whom the woman had sexual intercourse which resulted in her having milk.