Fathwa, - Freezing breast milk to establish nursing relationships

Question:
Is it permissible to express and freeze breast milk for use later on
(when the woman is not producing milk anymore) to establish rida'i
relatioships with the future offspring of sisters-in-law, siblings,
cousins etc.?
Answer:
Answer: In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Islamically it is permitted that a child is breastfed by any other
woman besides his own mother even without a need. Similarly, Islam
gives permission to a woman to breastfeed a child that is not her own.
This is something that is agreed upon by the scholars.
Allah Most High says:
"And if you decide on a foster-mother for your offspring, there is no
blame on you, provided you pay (the foster-mother) what you offered,
on equitable terms." (Surah al-Baqarah, V: 233)
The Arabs had a custom of offering their children to wet-nurses, with
the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) being a
classic example of this. He (Allah bless him & and give him peace) was
breastfed by Thawbiya, the slave of Abu Lahb, and Sayyida Halima bint
Abi Dhu'ayb (Allah be pleased with them both). (See: Sirah Ibn Hisham,
1/132). There are many other examples of this in the books of Sunna.
However, the condition is that the child is breastfed within the
specific period designated for it, which is before the age of two and
a half years, according to Imam Abu Hanifa and two years, according to
his two students (Allah have mercy on them all). The position of his
two students, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, is sounder, as
mentioned by Imam Tumurtashi in his Tanwir al-Absar. As such, it will
not be allowed to breastfeed a child who is above the age of two
years, neither will this breastfeeding be of any consequence in terms
of marriage and Hijab laws.
Given the above, it seems it will be permitted to freeze breast-milk
so that it may be used later on to feed future offspring of one's self
or others. (See: Nizam al-Fatawa, 1/394).
As far as the relationship of fosterage (radha'a) is concerned, almost
all of the Fuqaha agree that it is not necessary for a child to suck
directly onto a woman's breast in order for it to be established;
rather, drinking a woman's milk in any way would establish this
relationship. Only Imam Ibn Hazm and Layth ibn Sa'd disagreed with
this, and the Ulama, by and large, did not accept their viewpoint.
There is a Hadith in the Sahih of Imam Muslim where the Messenger of
Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) advised Sahla bint Suhayl
(Allah be pleased with her) to suckle Salim (whom she had adopted) in
order that the rules of fosterage are established. (Sahih Muslim, no:
1453). Scholars of Hadith and others explain that due to the fact that
Salim had attained puberty, Sahla would pour her breast-milk into a
utensil and Salim would drink from it. Salim did not directly drink
from the breast of Sahla. (See: Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd, 8/271 & al-Isaba,
4/337) As far as how and why the relationship of fosterage was
established even after Salim had passed the two-year age limit, that
is another issue altogether and was clarified in an earlier answer
regarding this Hadith.
Imam Ibn Qudama (Allah have mercy on him), the renowned Hanbali
jurist, states in his al-Mugni:
As far as the child drinking from other than a woman's breast (wujur)
is concerned, there are two conflicting narrations related (in the
Hanbali School), but the more authentic of the two is that prohibition
(of marriage) will be established with it as it is established with
direct sucking. This is also the position of Sha'bi, Thawri, people of
opinion (hanafis) and Imam Malik (Allah be pleased with them
all)...... Our proof is that which Ibn Mas'ud (Allah be pleased with
him) has narrated from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give
him peace): "There is no (effective) nursing except that which hardens
the bones and grows the flesh." Recorded by Imam Abu Dawud. Milk
reaches the same place whether it was drank in some other way or by
sucking on the breast, with the hardening of bones and growth of flesh
taking place in both situations. Thus, both will be equal in
establishing prohibition (i.e. the relationship of fosterage).
(al-Mughni, 7/537-538)
In conclusion, there appears no Shar'i bar from freezing breast-milk
and providing it for future offspring and that this will establish the
relationship of fosterage (rada'a). However, this permissibility is
conditional to no other unlawful activity taking place, such as mixing
the milk of various women and giving it to a child. Contemporary
scholars have ruled that it is impermissible to feed a child the milk
of various women that was frozen and stored in a milk bank, as that
would lead to the confusion is establishing foster relationships. The
Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah consisting of many top scholars from
across the Muslim world passed a judgement stating that Muslim
countries will be prevented from opening such banks, and that it will
be unlawful to have a child fed from a milk bank. (See: Qararat wa
tawsiyat majma' al-fiqh al-Islami, P 17)
Moreover, it will not be permitted to trade in a woman's milk. The
jurists (fuqaha) are quite clear on the fact that it is unlawful to
purchase and sell parts of a human being. The Qur'an permits the
hiring of wet-nurses and compensating them, but there is a fundamental
difference between "hiring" a wet-nurse and "trading" in milk. Hence,
it will not be permitted to buy or sell milk, whether individually or
from a milk bank.
In other words, there are two conditions for the permissibility of
freezing breast-milk and feeding it to future offspring:
1) The milk should not be mixed with that of other women in a way that
it would create confusion as to whose milk the child has drank. One
must be extremely cautious in this regard.
2) There must be no payment in return for breast-milk.
And Allah knows best