A question about whether a child who has been nursed a few times by a woman can be considered her brother and thus prohibited from marrying her.
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1 Answer
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.
Ayatollah Khamenei (may God protect him):
For nursing to establish prohibition, several conditions must be met. However, since the question pertains to the number of nursing sessions, the answer is as follows: the quantity must reach a certain threshold; merely having a nursing session or a complete suckle is not sufficient. There are three criteria: effect, time, and number. Any one of these suffices to establish prohibition. It is likely that the effect is the primary criterion, while the other two are indicators of it, but it is prudent to consider the possibility of one occurring without the others. The effect is that the child nurses enough to grow flesh and strengthen bones. The time criterion is that the child must nurse from the woman for a day and a night continuously, meaning that during this period, the child's nourishment is exclusively from the woman's milk. The number criterion is that the child must nurse from her fifteen complete suckles.
Ayatollah Sistani (may God protect him):
For nursing to establish prohibition, several conditions must be met. However, since the question pertains to the number of nursing sessions, the answer is as follows: nursing must reach the threshold of growing flesh and strengthening bones. In cases of doubt regarding this, nursing for a day and a night or reaching fifteen complete suckles is sufficient. If there is certainty that this has not occurred and one of the two criteria—time or quantity—has been met, it is advisable to observe caution.
Source: Minhaj al-Salihin, Vol. 3, Nursing, Eighth
May you be successful in all good.