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[A Man Married a Woman, Then It Became Clear They Had Been Breastfed by the Same Woman]

Mufti:
Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady
تاريخ النشر:
Fatwa number: 18777
Number of views: 7
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[A Man Married a Woman, Then It Became Clear They Had Been Breastfed by the Same Woman]
Fatwa number: 18777
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Question

Question: A man married a woman, and it later became clear to the spouses that they were milk-siblings. He separated from her while she was pregnant. When she gave birth, his brother married her—all of this occurring after they had asked some students of knowledge. Was there any wrongdoing in what happened, or not?

Answer

Answer—and Allah grants success: In such a matter they should have referred to mujtahid scholars, for there is disagreement among scholars in some questions of breastfeeding; and when that is so, annulment requires the ruling of a judge.
However, since the annulment did in fact take place, and the subsequent marriage did take place, we say: the fatwa of that student to the couple—annulling the marriage from its root and declaring it void—takes the place of a judge’s ruling. That is because, as appears, this student was the religious reference for the people of that region; they trusted him; his word was accepted among them; and his fatwa was decisive.
Moreover, it was he who ordered separation; therefore we have treated him as standing in the place of a judge. This is our carrying the actions and transactions of Muslims upon validity. Accordingly, the woman’s marriage—after her womb was cleared by delivering—was valid, and the prior annulment was valid; based on that, there is no harm in what occurred.
Yes: in the marginalia of the madhhab it is stated that if the two spouses mutually agree to annulment, believing the marriage to be invalid, they may annul without needing a judge’s ruling.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1

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