Issue No. 2126- There is no one better and worthier than a child’s mother to suckle him, and it is better that she does not claim any wages from her husband for suckling the child. However, she is entitled to do so, and if the mother demands more wages as compared with a wet nurse, her husband can entrust his child to the wet nurse.
Issue No. 2128- It is recommended that a woman avoids suckling any and every child, because it is possible that she may forget which of them she has suckled, and later two persons who are maḥram may contract marriage. Especially at the present time that because of the availability of baby formula and the like there is less need to suckle other children.
Issue No. 2129- It is recommended that people who become relatives because of suckling respect one another. However, they do not inherit from one another and do not enjoy the legal rights which relatives enjoy over one another.
Issue No. 2130- It is recommended that if possible, one should breastfeed her child for two full years.
Issue No. 2131- A woman may suckle the child of another person without the permission of her husband provided that the right of the husband is not in any way violated.
Issue No. 2132- If a person wishes for his sister-in-law (his brother’s wife) to become his maḥram, he can contract a temporary marriage with a suckling girl with the permission of her legal guardian and at the same time his sister-in-law should breastfeed her fully. And as an obligatory precaution, the period of the temporary marriage should be long enough to include the time she is able to derive sexual pleasure, and that such a marriage should also be in the interest of the girl.
Issue No. 2133- Suckling a child which becomes the cause of being maḥram can be established by the following two ways:1- A number of persons whose word is reliable say so.2- When two just men or four just women testify to it. Rather, the obligatory precaution is that, if one just man and one just woman testify, it will be sufficient. However, the witnesses should tell the conditions of suckling. For example, they should say that they had witnessed that a certain child was suckled fully by a certain woman for fifteen times with the conditions that were mentioned in Issue No. 2116. In case however, we know that they are aware of all those conditions and they agree with each other in this regard, then it will not be necessary for them to explain them.
Issue No. 2134- If it is doubted whether or not a child has sucked the quantity of milk which causes becoming maḥram, the child does not become maḥram, and one needs to become certain of it.
Issue No. 2135- A man who divorces his wife must be sane, and as an obligatory precaution, he must also be mature, and he should divorce her out of his will. Hence, if someone compels him to divorce his wife, the divorce will be void. It is also necessary that he seriously intends to divorce. If, therefore, he pronounces the formula of divorce sarcastically, the divorce will not be valid.
Issue No. 2136- Based on obligatory precaution, the formula for divorce should be pronounced in correct Arabic, and it is obligatory that two just men hear it. If the husband himself wishes to pronounce the formula for divorce, and his wife’s name is for example, Fatima, he should say:زَوْجَتِي فاطِمَةُ طالِقٌ“Zawjatī Fatima Ṭāliq”(My wife Fatima is divorced)And if he appoints another person as his representative to pronounce the formula of divorce, the representative should say:زَوْجَةُ مُوَکِّلِي فاطِمَةُ طالِقٌ“Zawjatu Muwakkilī Fatima Ṭāliq”(Fatima, the wife of my client is divorced).
Issue No. 2137- It is necessary that at the time of divorce, the woman is pure from ḥayḍ (menstrual blood) and nifās (lochia or birth bleeding), and that the husband should not have had sexual intercourse with her during that period of purity, and if he had sexual intercourse with his wife while she was in ḥayḍ or nifās preceded by purity, the divorce is not sufficient as an obligatory precaution, rather she should enter ḥayḍ once again and become pure, and then she can be divorced. (The details of these two conditions will be given in the succeeding issues).
Issue No. 2138- It is valid to divorce a woman even if she is in ḥayḍ or nifās in the following three circumstances:1- If the husband has not had sexual intercourse with her at all after marriage.2- If it is known that she is pregnant.3- If the wife is absent, and the husband is unable or it is difficult for him to ascertain her being pure.
