All perfect praise be to Allah. Blessings and peace be upon Prophet Mohammad.
Prohibition (the suckled baby becomes a son/daughter to his/her wet-nurse) by suckling is confirmed by the milk itself regardless of change in its form, or manner of preservation since our jurists don`t make it a condition for proving the prohibition that the milk remains in its known form; it suffices that it is nutritious for this ruling to be effective.
Al-Khateeb Ash-Shirbini (May Allah have mercy on his soul) said: “If the woman had milked her breasts before her death and the baby consumed it afterwards, the prohibition by suckling is established according to the most correct of the scholars` opinions since the milk is a lawful drink, and it isn`t a condition that it is called milk.
Therefore, if it was processed into cheese, dry yoghurt, butter, or was mixed with flour, and the baby was fed from it, then the prohibition is established since nutrition took place.
If the milk was mixed with a pure liquid such as water: The prohibition is effective if the mixture was predominated by the milk through its smell, taste, or color, and whether the baby drank all, or some of it.
However, if the water was the predominant element in the mixture, and that the taste, smell, and color of the milk weren`t present, and the baby drank all of it, then-according to one of the Shafite opinions- the prohibition is effective since the milk had reached the stomach.
The most correct opinion is that the prohibition doesn`t take place by consuming some milk since it is difficult to make sure that the milk had reached the baby`s stomach. But, if the quantity that remained from the mixture was less than that of the milk, then the prohibition is effective.” [Moghni Al-Mohtajj, vol.11/pp.378].
We have stated these details so that those in charge of freezing breast milk acquaint themselves with the Sharia rulings in this regard. Prohibition by suckling is confirmed if the child doesn`t exceed two years, and that he/she consumes five separate sucklings. It is also confirmed if the milk of the wet-nurse was put in a pot, then given to the baby, provided that she is milked five separate times, and the milk is consumed by the child in five separate times even if the quantity given to him each time was a little.
Al-Khateeb-Ash-shirbini said: “If the wet-nurse was milked five separate times, and the milk was fed to the child in five separate times, then they are definitely five sucklings by which the prohibition is confirmed.” Kindly refer to {Al-Hawii Al-Kabeer, vol.11/pp.378}.
Article (B/27) of the Civil Status Law states: “Prohibition by suckling is in the first two years of a child`s life, and it must be five separate sucklings where a baby quits suckling in each time by his own will regardless of the suckled quantity.” And Allah Knows Best.
