Fatwa ID: 06426

Answered by: Alimah Zakiratul Hoque

Question:

Any idea if milk banks, etc. mix the milk, hence the milk is maghlub and does not create radha’i relationships?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

و لو خلط لبن المرأة بالماء أو بالدواء أو بلبن البهيمة فالعبرة للغالب … و إذا اختلط لبن امرأتين تعلق التحريم بأغلبهما

“And if a woman’s milk is mixed with water, medicine, or an animal’s milk, then consideration is given to the overpowering one…and if the milk of 2 women is mixed, Hurmat is connected to the overpowering one.” (Fatawa Hindiya, Vol 1, Pg 378)

According to the Mothers’ Milk Bank at the Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation (based in the US), when the milk is “thawed” as part of a process, “each pool contains the milk from several different donors”.

Details can be found at the link below:

https://rmchildren.org/mothers-milk-bank/donate-milk/what-happens-to-the-milk/

However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that breastmilk from different donors should not be ‘pooled’, as can be seen in their guidance for milk banks at the link below (page 80):

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg93/evidence/full-guideline-243964189

It is better to ask the milk banks yourself so that everything is made clear regarding their processes.

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Alimah Zakiratul Hoque

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham