Adoption and Creating a Mahram Relationship Through Nursing

Answered by Ustadha Shaista Maqbool

Question: Please shed some light on adoption and mahram.

My father was adopted and when he was 7yrs old, his mother (the who adopted him) conceived and gave my father some of her breast milk with a spoon.

Would that make my father her mahram? Also would that make our uncle our mahram?

Answer: Wa’alaikum assalaam warahmatu Allah,

I pray this finds you in the best states.

According to the Hanafi school, when a baby under 2 lunar years is fed any breastmilk then he/she becomes the milk son/daughter of the woman who fed him, and she thus becomes his milkmother, etc. After a child is two lunar years, it is not permitted to feed him breastmilk nor does it make the woman his milk mother.

Therefore, for your situation, no, your father’s adopted mother is not his mahram. Likewise, his “brother” from his adopted mother would not be your mahram either.

May Allah ta’ala bless your family.

wasalaam,
Shaista Maqbool

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani