Nursed by same woman, couple face separation after 8 children
Another Saudi couple has been ordered to separate after more than 35 years of marriage in the wake of claims they had been breastfed by the same woman at infancy, local media said. A Yemeni woman in her 80s had told a public court in Najran that the man and wife, who have eight children, cannot remain married from the Islamic perspective.
The ruling, however, can be annulled on the basis that the testimony may not be valid since it was given by a woman, a subject of much debate among scholars.
Followers of the Hanafi school of thought rule that such a claim can be proven through the testimony of two men or of one man and two women, while Shafie followers stipulate the testimony of four women for the allegation to prove true.
Maliki followers, meanwhile, only require one man and one woman to provide testimony for the claim to become valid, a source told the paper.
