Breastfeeding

A baby is allowed to drink the milk of his mother or of another woman up to the age of 2 years. After 2 years, a baby should not be breastfed. During the 2-year period, if a baby drinks even a little milk from a woman, that baby will become the foster child of that woman. Similarly, this woman will become the foster mother for that baby.

Just as a woman is not allowed to marry her own child, she is also not allowed to marry her foster child.

If several babies drink the milk of the same woman, then that woman will become the foster mother of these babies. Similarly, these babies will become brothers and sisters to each other. This means that one is not allowed to marry the other just as real brothers and sisters are not allowed to marry each other.

If a baby drinks the milk of a person after the age of two, then, he does not become the foster child of that woman. Nonetheless, it is not permissible to breastfeed a child beyond the age of two.

As for a husband, he is allowed to do the action with his wife without swallowing anything. If ever, he lets something go down his throat and drinks it, then he has committed a sin. However, the Nikaah is not invalidated. They still remain as husband and wife.

[English version of "Allaitement" – Al Jamiat – Vol.2 No.5]