What is the ruling if a husband confesses his wife is his sister through fosterage?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Fosterage (Breastfeeding)
Primary text
If a husband confesses that his wife is his sister through fosterage (Rada'a), the marriage is immediately dissolved, and the couple must be separated. This is the position of Al-Shafi'i. The basis for this ruling is that the confession establishes a state that renders the marriage permanently unlawful for him. A retraction from such a confession is not accepted, analogous to retracting a pronouncement of divorce or confessing that a female slave is his blood sister.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa holds that if the husband claims he was mistaken or erred in his confession, his statement is accepted because such a retraction implies that no valid marriage existed in the first place, similar to accepting a retraction after denying a marriage that was later confessed. However, this dissenting view is refuted because the ruling is based on the substantive prohibition (Rada'a), not merely the declaration. Furthermore, the ruling regarding the dissolution pertains to worldly legal judgment; privately, the prohibition depends on his true knowledge: if he knows his statement is true, the woman is forbidden; if he knows it is false, the marriage remains valid because the statement itself does not create the prohibition.