Once this is established, the consideration is based on the two years, not on the weaning. If [the child] were weaned before the two years and then suckled within them, prohibition would be established. If [the child] were not weaned until the two years passed, and then suckled after them before weaning, the prohibition would not be established. Ibn al-Qasim, a student of Malik, said: If [the child] suckled after weaning within the two years, it would not prohibit (24), based on his saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And it occurred before weaning." Our evidence is the saying of Allah (the Almighty): "And the mothers shall nurse their children for two full years." It is also reported from him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "There is no breastfeeding except what occurs within the two years" (25). Weaning is evaluated by its duration, not by the act itself. Abu al-Khattab said: If [the child] suckled even an hour after the two years, it would not prohibit. The Qadi said: If [the child] began in the fifth [nursing] and the two years concluded before completing it, the prohibition would not be established. This is not correct; for the portion of nursing that occurred within the two years is sufficient for prohibition, as evidenced by what would happen if it were separate from what came after it. Therefore, a legal ruling should not lapse due to the attachment (26) of something that has no effect on it. Al-Khiraqi stipulated, for the spreading of prohibition between the suckled child and the man whose milk was caused by his intercourse, that it must be the milk of a pregnancy attributed (28) to the one who had intercourse, whether due to intercourse in a marriage, a bondswoman relationship, or through a dubious act (29). As for the milk of a woman committed to adultery or [the milk of a woman] from whom a child is denied via li'an (imprecation), it does not spread the prohibition between them, according to the understanding of al-Khiraqi's words. This is the opinion of Abu Abd Allah ibn Hamid and the school of al-Shafi'i. Abu Bakr Abd al-Aziz said: The prohibition spreads between them; because it is a factor that spreads prohibition, so its permissible and prohibited forms are equal in this regard (30), just like intercourse. He confirms this by noting that the one who had intercourse resulted in milk and a child. Then, the child spreads the prohibition between himself and the one who had intercourse; likewise, the milk does, and because it is breastfeeding that spreads the prohibition to the nursing woman, so it spreads it to the man who had intercourse, similar to the case of...
(24) In [M], the addition: "alaih" (on it). (25) Reported by al-Daraqutni, in: The Book of Breastfeeding. Sunan al-Daraqutni 4/174. And Ibn 'Adi, in: al-Kamil 7/2562. (26) In [B]: "bi-ittisal" (by connection). (27) In [A]: "wa-ishtirat" (and the stipulation of). (28) In the original: "yansibu" (attributes). (29) In [A] and [M]: "shubhat" (a dubious act). (30) In [A] and [M]: "wa-mahzur" (and its prohibited [form]).