2524. If a woman settles her mahr with her husband in return for him not marrying another woman, she can no longer claim her mahr and it is obligatory on him that he not marry another woman.
2525. If a person is born out of wedlock, gets married and has children, they will be legitimate children.
2526. If a person has intercourse with his wife in the month of rama¤¡n, or when she is in the state of ¦ay¤, he will have committed a sin. However, if a child is born to them, he will be a legitimate child.
2527. If, due to the disappearance of her husband, a woman is convinced that —for example— he died on a journey, then, following the completion of her ‘iddah period as defined in the precepts of divorce, she marries another man, yet, subsequently, her original husband returns, she will still be considered his lawful wife, and she will have to separate herself from her second ‘husband’. However, if they had already engaged in sexual intercourse, she should observe ‘iddah after which she would return to her previous husband. The second husband will also have to return her dowry although he will not have to pay for her expenses during her waiting period (‘iddah).
2528. If a woman suckles a child with the conditions which will be mentioned in rule 2538, that child becomes ma¦ram to the following persons:
1. The woman herself and she is known as his nursing mother.
2. Her husband who is the cause of the milk, and he is called the nursing father.
3. The father and mother of the woman and all parental generations upwards, even if they are nursing mothers and fathers.
4. The children who were born to the woman, and those that are born later.
5. The offspring of the woman’s children and all the generations downwards, regardless of whether they are born of her children, or her children have suckled them.
6. The sisters and brothers of that woman even if they are nursing sisters and brothers, meaning that they have become sisters and brothers due to nursing from the same woman.
7. The paternal uncles and the paternal aunts of that woman even though they maybe uncles and aunts due to nursing.
8. The maternal uncles and the maternal aunts of that woman even though they may be uncles and aunts due to nursing.
9. The descendants of the husband of that woman who is the cause of the milk, however much lower they may go in his line of descendants, even though they may be his nursing children.
10. The father and mother of the woman’s husband, and all the generations upwards, even though they may be his nursing parents.
11. The sisters and brothers of the woman’s husband (who is the cause of the milk), even though they may be his nursing sisters and brothers.
12. The paternal uncle and the paternal aunt and the maternal uncle and maternal aunty of her husband (who is the cause of the milk), and all generations upwards, even though they may be his nursing uncles and aunts.
They are some other people who become ma¦ram to the person on account of suckling milk, and their details will be elaborated in subsequent articles.
2529. If a woman suckles a child with the conditions which will be mentioned in article 2538, the father of that child cannot marry the biological daughters of that woman. It is permissible for him to marry her nursing daughters, although the recommended precaution is that he should not marry them. Moreover, he also cannot marry the biological and nursing daughters of her husband. In both cases, if any one of them is his wife at present his marriage becomes void.
2530. If a woman suckles a child with the conditions mentioned in rule 2538, the husband of that woman, who is the cause of the milk, does not become ma¦ram to the sisters of that child. The recommended precaution is that he should not marry them. Furthermore, the relatives of the husband do not become ma¦ram to the sister and brother of that child.
2531. If a woman suckles a child, she will not become ma¦ram to the brothers of that child. Moreover, the relatives of the woman will not become ma¦ram to the sisters and brothers of the nursed child.
2532. If a person marries a woman who has suckled a girl fully, and if he has had intercourse with the woman, he can no longer marry that girl.
2533. If a person marries a girl, he cannot marry the woman who has fully suckled the girl.
2534. A man cannot marry a girl who has been fully suckled by his mother or grandmother. Moreover, if his father’s wife nurses a girl from the milk that is of his father, he cannot marry the nursed girl. If a person forms a marriage contract with a suckling girl, and thereafter, his mother or his grandmother suckles the girl, the marriage contract will be void. The same will apply if his father’s wife suckles her from the milk that is of his father.
2535. A man cannot marry a girl who has been suckled fully by his sister, or his brother’s wife from the milk that is of his brother. The same will apply if the girl is suckled by the man’s niece or the granddaughter of his sister or the granddaughter of his brother.
2536. If a woman suckles her granddaughter fully, the daughter will become forbidden for her own husband. The same will apply if she suckles the child of her daughter’s husband from another woman. However if a woman suckles the child of her own son, the wife of her son who is the mother of this child, does not become forbidden for her husband.
2537. If the step-mother of a girl suckles the child of the girl’s husband, with the milk that belongs to the girl’s father, the girl becomes haram for her husband regardless of whether the child is the offspring of that particular girl or of some other woman.
2538. There are eight conditions for which suckling a child causes ma¦ram relationships:
1. The child suckles the milk of a woman who is alive. If he suckles the milk from the breasts of a dead woman, it has no consequences.
2. The milk of the woman should be from a legitimate relationship and not due to an unlawful act. Hence if the milk caused by adultery is breastfed to another child, the latter will not become ma¦ram to anyone.
3. The child sucks the milk directly from the breasts of the woman. Hence, if the milk is poured into the child’s mouth, it will have no consequences.
4. The milk should be pure and should not be mixed with anything else.
5. The milk belongs to one husband only. Hence, if a nursing mother is divorced, and marries another man and gets pregnant and the milk belonging to the first husband still remains in her body until she delivers her baby, and for example, before giving birth she nurses the child eight times with the milk from the first husband, and she nurses the same child seven times with the milk from the second husband after giving birth, this child will not be ma¦ram to anyone.
6. The child does not vomit the milk. If he does, then obligatory precaution dictates that the persons who are to become ma¦ram to the child on account of suckling milk, should not marry him, nor should they look at him in a manner that ma¦rams are allowed to look at each other.
7. The child should suck milk for fifteen times, or for one day and one night (according to the next rule) to his fill, or he should suck so much milk that it can be said that the milk has made his bones stronger and caused flesh to grow in his body. If he nurses ten times, the recommended precaution is that those who become mahram to him due to suckling milk should not get married to him, and should not look at him as ma¦rams are allowed to look at each other.
8. The child has not completed two years in age. If he is nursed after he completes two years, he will not become mahram to anyone. In fact, if for example, before he turns two, he is nursed eight times and after he turns two, he is nursed seven more times, he will not become ma¦ram to anyone.
If, however, more than two years have passed since a woman gave birth and she still carries some milk, then if she nurses this milk to a child, this child becomes ma¦ram to those who were mentioned above.
2539. The child should not consume food or the milk of another woman during the period of one day and one night. However, if he consumes a little bit of food, such that common sense does not consider him to have eaten within that period, it will not be problematic.
He must also have sucked the milk of one woman for fifteen times, and should not have consumed milk from another woman between the fifteen sucklings. He should also consume the milk to his fill during each of the times, without any pauses. However, if he takes a breath whilst suckling, or pauses for a short period, such that common sense considers it as one suckling from the time he started to suckle to the time he is full, it will not be problematic.
2540. If a woman suckles a child from the milk of her husband, and later marries another person, and then suckles a child from the milk of her second husband, the two children will not become ma¦ram to each other. It is however better that they not get married to each other, and they cannot look at each other as ma¦rams are allowed to do.
2541. If a woman suckles multiple children with the milk from one husband, all of them become ma¦ram to one another, to the husband and to the woman who suckled them.
2542. If a person has multiple wives, and all of them suckle a child with the previously mentioned conditions, then all of the children become ma¦ram to one another, and to the man and to all the women.
2543. If a person has two wet-nurses, and one of them suckles a child—for example—eight times, and the other suckles them seven times, the child will not become ma¦ram to anyone.
2544. If a woman fully nurses a boy and a girl from the milk of one husband, then the brothers and sisters of the boy will not become ma¦ram to the brothers and sisters of the girl.
2545. A man may not marry the women who have become his wife’s nieces due to nursing, without the permission of his wife. Similarly, if a man sodomizes a boy, he cannot marry the nursing daughter, sister and mother of that boy. The same applies based on obligatory precaution with respect to the boy’s grandmother and his grand daughter. The same will also apply based on obligatory precaution in the event that the sodomizer is not b¡ligh, or the sodomized person is b¡ligh.
2546. A woman who has nursed a man’s brother does not become ma¦ram to him, although the recommended precaution is that she should not get married to him.
2547. A man cannot marry two sisters, even if they are nursing sisters, meaning that they are sisters to each other due to nursing. In the event that he marries two sisters, and later realizes that they are sisters, then in the event that the marriage contracts were pronounced at the same time, he is free to choose whomever he wants. If they were not pronounced at the same time, the marriage contract of the first will be valid and the contract of the second is void.
2548. If a woman nurses the following people with the milk from her husband, her husband does not become forbidden to her, although it is better that they practice precaution in these cases:
1. Her own brothers and sisters
2. Her paternal and maternal aunts and uncles
3. The children of her paternal uncles and aunts
4. The children of her brothers
5. The brothers or sisters of her husband
6. The children of her sisters or the children of her husbands sisters
7. The paternal and maternal uncles and aunts of her husband
8. The grandchildren of her husband’s other wives.
2549. If a woman suckles the daughter of a man’s paternal or maternal aunt, they do not become ma¦ram to him. The recommended precaution is that he should avoid marrying her.
2550. If a man has two wives, and one of them suckles the children of the other wife’s paternal uncle, then the wife whose paternal uncle’s child suckled the milk does not become forbidden as regards her own husband.
2551. The best person to suckle a child is the child’s mother. It is better for the child’s mother not to ask for any wages from her husband for suckling the child, although it is good that he pays her for suckling the child. In the event that the mother demands more payment for suckling the child than a wet-nurse, her husband can take the child from her and give it to a wet-nurse to be suckled.
2552. It is recommended that the wet-nurse who is chosen to suckle a child should have the following qualities: be a twelver Shi’a, sane, chaste, fair-looking. It is makruh to choose a wet-nurse who is unintelligent, bad-looking, ill-mannered, or of illegitimate birth. It is also makruh to choose a wet-nurse who has given birth to an illegitimate child.
2553. The recommended precaution is that a woman should not suckle every child, because it is possible that she may forget exactly who she has suckled, and later two persons who are ma¦ram to each other, may contract marriage.
