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Adult suckling (Arabic: ‫)َر َض اَع ُة اْلَكِب يِر‬, or
the act of breastfeeding a male adult, is
mentioned in several relied-upon
collections of hadiths. According to five
hadiths in Sahih Muslim, Muhammad
once plainly instructed the daughter (or
wife -- sources are unclear) of a
companion named Suhail to suckle a
"grown-up" freedman named Salim so
that Salim would become the daughter's
mahram, or a relation whom the daughter
could no longer marry, and thus render
Salim's cohabitation with the family
appropriate and legal.[1] Reports in the
Muwatta of Imam Malik[2] and Sunan Abu
Dawud[3] add that this instruction was
reified by a verse in the Qur'an, Islam's
holy scripture, which was still present in
the Qur'an after Muhammad's death,
indicating that it had not been abrogated
by Muhammad while he was alive. The
report in Sunan Abu Dawud continues
with Aisha, Muhammad's favorite wife,
reporting that while she was
"preoccupied with [Muhammad's] death",
"a tame sheep came in and ate" the scrap
of paper upon which the verse of
"breastfeeding an adult" was written. The
practice, sanctioned by a  number of
traditional jurists, is popularly rejected by
Islamic scholars today.

Translated literally, "mahram" means


"that which is prohibited (haram)", which
explains the phrasing used in the hadiths
(e.g. "[he] would become unlawful for
[her]"). The word mahram is used to refer
to relations who one cannot marry. As a
result of mahrams not being permitted to
conceive of each other as marital/sexual
prospects (e.g. a brother and sister), the
female does not have to observe all the
requirements of hijab and is permitted to
be alone with a male.

Following the publication of a book in


Egypt promoting adult suckling by Dr.
Abd Al-Mahdi Abd Al-Qadir, a scholar at
al-Azhar (the "Harvard of Islam"), another
scholar at al-Azhar, Dr. Izzat Atiyya,
published a fatwa promoting the practice
in a widely-read weekly magazine in
2007, causing national and international
controversy. The Egyptian government
subsequently called for the removal of
the relevant edition of the magazine from
sellers' shelves and Dr. Atiyya was
suspended from his post at al-Azhar.[4]

Contents

Adult suckling in scripture

In the hadiths

An entire chapter in Sahih Muslim,


containing six hadiths, is dedicated to the
topic of "Breastfeeding an adult" (‫باب‬
‫ي‬ ‫َك‬ ‫ْل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ِة‬ ‫َع‬ ‫ا‬ ‫َض‬ ‫َر‬).[5] The hadiths describes how,
‫ِب ِر‬
via suckling, an adult male can become a
female's mahram and thus be allowed to
accompany her in private.

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her)


reported that Salim, the freed slave of
Abu Hadhaifa, lived with him and his
family in their house. She (i. e. the
daughter of Suhail came to Allah's
Apostle (may peace be upon him) and
said: Salim has attained (puberty) as
men attain, and he understands what
they understand, and he enters our
house freely, I, however, perceive that
something (rankles) in the heart of Abu
Hudhaifa, whereupon Allah's Apostle
(may peace be upon him) said to her:
Suckle him and you would become
unlawful for him, and (the rankling)
which Abu Hudhaifa feels in his heart
will disappear. She returned and said:
So I suckled him, and what (was there)
in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa
disappeared.

Sahih Muslim 8:3425

A'isha (Allah be pleased with her)


reported that Sahla bint Suhail came to
Allah's Apostle (may peace be eupon
him) and said:
Messengerof Allah, I see
on the face of Abu Hudhaifa (signs of
disgust) on entering of Salim (who is
an ally) into (our house), whereupon
Allah's Apostle (‫ )ﷺ‬said: Suckle him.
She said: How can I suckle him as he is
a grown-up man? Allah's Messenger
(‫ )ﷺ‬smiled and said: I already know
that he is a young man. 'Amr has made
this addition in his narration: that he
[Salim] participated in the Battle of
Badr and in the narration of Ibn 'Umar
(the words are): Allah's Messenger (‫)ﷺ‬
laughed.

Sahih Muslim 8:3424

Ibn Abu Mulaika reported that al-Qasim


b. Muhammad b. Abu Bakr had
narrated to him that 'A'isha (Allah be
pleased with her) reported that Sahla
bint Suhail b. 'Amr came to Allah's
Apostle (‫ )ﷺ‬and said:
Messenger of
Allah, Salim (the freed slave of Abu
Hudhaifa) is living with us in our house,
and he has attained (puberty) as men
attain it and has acquired knowledge
(of the sex problems) as men acquire,
whereupon he said: Suckle him so that
he may become unlawful (in regard to
marriage) for you He (Ibn Abu Mulaika)
said: I refrained from (narrating this
hadith) for a year or so on account of
fear. I then met al-Qasim and said to
him: You narrated to me a hadith which
I did not narrate (to anyone)
afterwards. He said: What is that? I
informed him, whereupon he said:
Narrate it on my authority that 'A'isha
(Allah be pleased with her) had
narrated that to me.

Sahih Muslim 8:3426

Hadiths regarding adult suckling are also


found in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, the
Sunan of Ibn Majah, and the Musnad of
Imam Ahmad.

Aisha's opinion vs. that of her co-wives

One of the six hadiths on adult suckling


in Sahih Muslim describes Aisha as the
individual who instructed Muhammad's
companions to implement the practice
sanctioned by Muhammad.
Umm Salama said to 'A'isha (Allah be
pleased with her):
A young boy who is
at the threshold of puberty comes to
you. I, however, do not like that he
should come to me, whereupon 'A'isha
(Allah be pleased with her) said: Don't
you see in Allah's Messenger (‫ )ﷺ‬a
model for you? She also said: The wife
of Abu Hudhaifa said: Messenger of
Allah, Salim comes to me and now he
is a (grown-up) person, and there is
something that (rankles) in the mind of
Abu Hudhaifa about him, whereupon
Allah's Messenger (‫ )ﷺ‬said: Suckle
him (so that he may become your
foster-child), and thus he may be able
to come to you (freely).

Sahih Muslim 8:3427

An account described in the Umm of


Imam Shafi'i provides further detail,
stating that Aisha enforced the suckling
requirement on all those who wanted to
meet with her. Imam Shafi'i also
describes how Aisha would have her
sister Umm Kulthum suckle those who
wanted to meet with Aisha in her place,
since being the mahram of one person
renders one the mahram of all of that
person's sibling.

[Aisha] reported that 'in what was


revealed of the Kur'an, ten attested
breast-feeds were mentioned as
required to establish the marriage-ban
[i.e. render the suckled person a
mahram]. The ten were replaced by
mention of five attested breast-feeds.
The Prophet died and the five were still
being recited in the Kur'an. No man
ever called upon 'A'isha who had not
completed the minimum course of five
sucklings.

'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr reports that the


Prophet said, 'One suckling does not
constitute the ban, nor two, nor does
one or two sucks.'

'Urwa b. al-Zubayr reports that the


Prophet commanded the wife of Abu
Hudhayfa to feed her husbands mawla
[freed slave], Salim, so that he could go
on living with them. The prophet
specified five breast-feeds.

Salim b. 'Abdullah reports that he was


never able to visit 'A'isha. She had sent
him to be suckled by her sister Umm
Kulthum who, however, suckled him
only three times, then fell sick. Salim
added, 'Thus, I never did complete the
course of ten sucklings.'

Imam Shafi'i, " ‫ "َم ا يحرم ِم ْن الِّن َس اء ِب اْلَق َر اَب ِة‬, al-Umm,
5, al-Maktabah al-Shamilah, p. 28,
https://app.turath.io/book/1655 ;
translation taken from: John Burton, The
Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic theories of
abrogation , Edinburgh University Press,
p. 157, 1990 (archived from the original ),
https://web.archive.org/web/2017091414102
8/http://www.hadith-studies.com/Burton-
Theories-Abrogation.pdf

Similar statements are found in the


following hadith in Muwatta Malik, where
we also see that Muhammad's other
wives adamantly refused the instruction,
and considered the ruling given by
Muhammad to be a special dispensation
just for Salim and Suhail's daughter. [6]

..."Sahla bint Suhayl who was the wife


of Abu Hudhayfa, and one of the tribe
of Amr ibn Luayy, came to the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, and said,
'Messenger of Allah! We think of Salim
as a son and he comes in to see me
while I am uncovered. We only have
one room, so what do you think about
the situation?' The Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, 'Give him five drinks of
your milk and he will be mahram by it.'
She then saw him as a foster son.
A'isha umm al-muminin took that as a
precedent for whatever men she
wanted to be able to come to see her.
She ordered her sister, Umm Kulthum
bint Abi Bakr as-Siddiq and the
daughters of her brother to give milk to
whichever men she wanted to be able
to come in to see her. The rest of the
wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, refused to let
anyone come in to them by such
nursing. They said, 'No! By Allah! We
think that what the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, ordered Sahla bint Suhayl to do
was only an indulgence concerning the
nursing of Salim alone. No! By Allah!
No one will come in upon us by such
nursing! "This is what the wives of the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, thought about the suckling
of an older person."

Al-Muwatta 30:12

Similar sentiments from Muhammad's


other wives are expressed in a hadith in
Sahih Muslim.
Umm Salama, the wife of Allah's
Apostle (‫)ﷺ‬, used to say that all wives
of Allah's Apostle (‫ )ﷺ‬disclaimed the
idea that one with this type of
fosterage (having been suckled after
the proper period) should come to
them. and said to 'A'isha: By Allah, we
do not find this but a sort of
concession given by Allah's Messenger
(‫ )ﷺ‬only for Salim, and no one was
ging to be allowed to enter (our
houses) with this type of fosterage and
we do not subscribe to this view.

Sahih Muslim 8:3429

In the Qur'an
Accounts provided in the hadith agree
that a verse requiring ten sucklings was
revealed, followed by a verse requiring
just five sucklings. The same hadiths
detailing these verses state that the final
verse, having been written only upon a
scrap of paper stored under Aisha's
pillow, was lost after the death of
Muhammad when a sheep entered her
room and ate the scrap of paper. As
noted above, the ruling had been very
unpopular with Muhammad's other
wives. The Qur'anic verse on stoning
adulterers is likewise said to have been
lost in this same incident.
Yahya related to me from Malik from
Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm from
Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha,
the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said,
"Amongst what was sent down of the
Qur'an was 'ten known sucklings make
haram' - then it was abrogated by 'five
known sucklings'. When the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, died, it was what is now
recited of the Qur'an."
Yahya said that
Malik said, "One does not act on this."

Al-Muwatta 30:17

It was narrated that 'Aishah said:


“The
Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding
an adult ten times was revealed, and
the paper was with me under my
pillow. When the Messenger of Allah
died, we were preoccupied with his
death, and a tame sheep came in and
ate it.” These verses were abrogated in
recitation but not ruling. Other ahadith
establish the number for fosterage to
be 5.

Sunan Ibn Majah 3:9:1944

It was narrated that 'Aishah said:


“Once
of the things that Allah revealed in the
the Qur'an and then abrogated [the
word translated as "abrogated" is ‫سقط‬,
which means "dropped"[7], and not ‫نسخ‬,
which is the word used to refer to legal
abrogation[8]. This is also the usage
found in the Qur'an itself[9]] was that
nothing makes marriage prohibited
except ten breastfeedings or five well-
known (breastfeedings).” (Sahih)

Sunan Ibn Majah 3:9:1942

2007 Azhar fatwas

Dr. Izzat Atiyya

In 2007, Dr. Izzat Atiyya, the head of the


hadith department at al-Azhar university
(one of if the highest authorities in Sunni
Islam today and the world's most
renowned Islamic university - often
described as the "Harvard of Islam"),
issued a fatwa empowering Muslims to
implement the practice of adult suckling
to avoid the social and professional
inconveniences generated by the
requirements of female hijab. He
encouraged that one should be breastfed
by a woman's sisters or mother in order
to attain mahram status if it was not
possible for whatever reason to suckle
the woman directly. He also encouraged
that women who adopt children, since
there is no legal recognition for adoption
in Islamic law, ought to breastfeed their
adopted sons, no matter their age, so
that they can establish a legal mother-
son relationship. The fatwa was
published in al-Watani al-Yawm, a weekly
newspaper published by Egypt's ruling
National Democratic Front party, and
explained by Dr. Atiyya in person during
an interview with the publication. Dr.
Atiyya repeatedly declared that the
sources he quoted belonged to the
Islamic holy texts with the highest
possible authority. According to him no
less than 90,000 contemporary scholars
confirmed that the hadith referred to is
authentic. Dr. Abd Al-Mahdi Abd Al-Qadir,
another scholar at al-Azhar, wrote and
published a book rendering similar ideas
based on the same Islamic sources prior
to Dr. Atiyya's fatwa.[4]

"The religious ruling that appears in the


Prophet's conduct [Sunna] confirms
that breastfeeding allows a man and a
woman to be together in private, even
if they are not family and if the woman
did not nurse the man in his infancy,
before he was weaned – providing that
their being together serves some
purpose, religious or secular...

"Being together in private means being


in a room with the door closed, so that
nobody can see them... A man and a
woman who are not family members
are not permitted [to do this], because
it raises suspicions and doubts. A man
and a woman who are alone together
are not [necessarily] having sex, but
this possibility exists, and
breastfeeding provides a solution to
this problem... I also insist that the
breastfeeding relationship be officially
documented in writing... The contract
will state that this woman has suckled
this man... After this, the woman may
remove her hijab and expose her hair in
the man's [presence]...

"is that the man and the woman must


be related through breastfeeding. [This
can also be achieved] by means of the
man's mother or sister suckling the
woman, or by means of the woman's
mother or sister suckling the man,
since [all of these solutions legally] turn
them into brother and sister...
"The logic behind [the concept] of
breastfeeding an adult is to transform
the bestial relationship between [two
people] into a religious relationship
based on [religious] duties... Since [this]
breastfeeding takes place between
[two] adults, the man is still permitted
to marry the woman [who breastfed
him], whereas [a woman] who nursed [a
man] in his infancy is not permitted to
marry him...

"The adult must suckle directly from


the [woman's] breast... [This according
to a hadith attributed to Aisha, wife of
the Prophet's Muhammad], which tells
of Salem [the adopted son of Abu
Hudheifa] who was breastfed by Abu-
Hudheifa's wife when he was already a
grown man with a beard, by the
Prophet's order... Other methods, such
as [transferring] the milk to a container,
are [less desirable]...

"[As for the possibility of using a


breast-pump, which] increases the
production of the milk glands... that is a
matter for doctors and religious
scholars who must determine if the
milk [thus produced] is real milk, i.e., if
its composition is identical to that of
the [woman's] original milk. If it is, this
method is permissible...
"The fact that the hadith regarding the
breastfeeding of an adult is
inconceivable to the mind does not
make it invalid. This is a reliable
hadith, and rejecting it is tantamount
to rejecting Allah's Messenger and
questioning the Prophet's tradition."

Quote from Dr. Atiyya; L. Lavi, "Al-Azhar


Lecturer Suspended after Issuing
Controversial Fatwa Recommending
Breastfeeding of Men by Women in the
Workplace" , Inquiry & Analysis Series, 355,
MEMRI, June 3rd, 2007 (archived from the
original ),
https://web.archive.org/web/2020121311341
7/https://www.memri.org/reports/al-azhar-
lecturer-suspended-after-issuing-controversial-
fatwa-recommending-breastfeeding-men ; see
also Al-Watani Al-Yawm, Egypt: National
Democratic Front Party, May 15th, 2007

Dr. Atiyya's fatwa was followed by


immense controversy in Egypt and
internationally. Shortly after publication, a
committee assembled by al-Azhar
suspended Dr. Atiyya from his academic
post and the Egyptian information
minister ordered the removal of the
relevant edition of al-Watan al-Yawm from
sellers' shelves. Dr. Atiyya was ordered
by al-Azhar to make a public apology. Dr.
Atiyya complied.[4]

"My statements on the issue of


breastfeeding an adult were based on
the imams Ibn Hazm, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn
Al-Qayyim, Al-Shawkani and Amin
Khattab [Al-Subki], and on conclusions
I drew from the statements of Ibn
Hajar [Al-Askalani]. However, I hold
that only the breastfeeding of an infant
creates a family relationship [that
prohibits marriage between the parties
and allows them to be together], as the
Four Imams [i.e., the founders of the
four Sunni legal schools] said, while the
[act of] breastfeeding a grown man
[mentioned in the hadith] was a
[specific] incident that came to serve a
[specific] purpose, and the fatwa I
issued was based solely on my
personal interpretation. Based on what
I have learned with my brothers the
religious scholars, I apologize for my
earlier [statements] and retract my
opinion, which contradicts [the norms
accepted] by the public."

Quote from Dr. Atiyya; Ibid.; see also Al-Watani


Al-Yawm, Egypt: National Democratic Front
Party, May 22nd, 2007

Responses

The head of the al-Azhar Supreme


Council, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sayyid
Tantawi, publicly refused to accept Dr.
Atiyya's apology.[4]

"We must not be too lax in matters of


religion, especially when the matter at
hand is a fatwa that significantly
affects people's actual lives,
inclinations, and views – because it
speaks to their natural emotions which
[lead them to] embrace what is
permitted and shun prohibitions."
Tantawi said, "Society cannot tolerate
[a fatwa] that undermines its religious
stability. There is enough chaos with all
the unsupervised fatwas [published] on
some satellite channels. We will never
permit this chaos to spread to the
religious establishment and to Al-
Azhar."

Quote from the head of the al-Azhar Supreme


Council, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sayyid
Tantawi; Ibid.
Dr. Abd al-Fatah Asaker commented
saying that hadiths such as the relevant
hadiths could not be accepted as
authentic, even if they came from Sahih
Bukhari or Sahih Muslim.[4]

"Would Dr. Abd Al-Mahdi [Abd Al-Qadr]


agree [to let] his wife, daughter, sister
or even his mother breastfeed a grown
man – whether a stranger or a family
member? Would the Muslim scholars
[want people] to say that their wives
breastfeed any man who comes along?
. . . It is inconceivable that Islam, which
commands the believing [men and
women] to lower their eyes [in
modesty], should permit a strange man
to place his mouth on the breast of a
married woman and suckle from [it]."

Quote from Dr. Abd al-Fatah Asaker; Ibid.

The Muslim Brotherhood also criticized


the fatwa harshly and took the matter to
parliament. Despite 50 Egyptian MPs
discussing the matter however, they
"refrained from submitting a
parliamentary question in order to avoid
creating too big an uproar".[4]

External links
Breastfeeding adults in Islam
The Middle East Media Research
Institute on Dr. Atiyyas Suspension and
related matters (with many links)
Article in Arabic on Al Arabia online
with more than 2400 comments
"Breastfeeding fatwa causes stir" ,
BBC, May 22nd, 2007 (archived from the
original ),
https://web.archive.org/web/2020*/htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/
6681511.stm

References
1. Sahih Muslim, hadiths 3424-3428
2. Al-Muwatta 30:17
3. Sunan Ibn Majah 3:9:1944
4. L. Lavi, "Al-Azhar Lecturer Suspended
after Issuing Controversial Fatwa
Recommending Breastfeeding of
Men by Women in the Workplace" ,
Inquiry & Analysis Series, 355,
MEMRI, June 3rd, 2007 (archived from
the original ),

https://web.archive.org/web/202012
13113417/https://www.memri.org/re
ports/al-azhar-lecturer-suspended-
after-issuing-controversial-fatwa-
recommending-breastfeeding-men ;
see also Al-Watani Al-Yawm, Egypt:
National Democratic Front Party, May
15th, 2007

5. "(7) Chapter: Breastfeeding an adult


[‫ "]باب َر َض اَع ِة اْلَكِب يِر‏‬, Sahih Muslim
(archived from the original ),

https://web.archive.org/web/202012
13071552/https://sunnah.com/musli
m/17

6. Fatwa No 342208: Aa'ishah's view


regarding breastfeeding adult ,
IslamWeb.net, January 1st, 2017
(archived from the original ),

https://web.archive.org/web/202101
04022820/https://www.islamweb.net
/en/fatwa/342208/aaishahs-view-
regarding-breastfeeding-adult

7. Lane's Lexicon ‫سقط‬


8. Lane's Lexicon ‫نسخ‬
9. Quran 2:106

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