Suckling from a deceased woman entails prohibition according to the great majority of Muslim jurists as the main purpose, which is feeding, is fulfilled. Moreover, if the woman’s breast-milk is taken before her death and drunk by a baby after the woman’s death, it also entails prohibition.
Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, states the following: It is known that breastfeeding within the first two years of life entails the prohibition of marriage between the child and the woman who has breastfed him. This prohibition extends to those closely related to that woman, like her daughters and sisters, according to the jurisprudential rule that breastfeeding entails whatever prohibition is entailed by affinity. Yet, the Muslim scholars differ on the number of times of suckling and the way of breastfeeding that entail such prohibition.
Suckling from a deceased woman can be either after her death, by taking her milk to feed a baby or by the baby suckling directly from her, or before her death, by taking her milk before her death and feeding a baby with it after her death.
As regards the first case, the majority of jurists, such as the Hanafi, the Maliki, the Hanbali, and the Zahiri scholars, maintain that it entails such prohibition. This is because the main purpose is feeding, and it is fulfilled, no matter whether the woman is alive or dead. However, the Shafi`i scholars view that suckling in this case does not entail such prohibition because the milk is taken from a dead body which has nothing to do with lawfulness or prohibition, just like that of an animal.
Concerning the second case, in which the woman’s breast-milk is taken before her death and drunk by the baby after her death, scholars say that it entails the prohibition in question.