How a suckling is counted regarding the number of sucklings: is it by satiety or merely a sip?
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The questioner : How is a suckling counted regarding the number of sucklings? Is it by satiety or merely a sip?
The Shaykh : This is also a matter in which the scholars have differed.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Some of them hold that a suckling is the act of taking the breast into the mouth. So as long as the child is holding the breast, it is one suckling. If he releases it and returns to it, even immediately, it is another suckling.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : On this view, it is possible to complete the five sucklings in one sitting. Some scholars have said that a suckling is an act, and it is like a meal or a bite. They hold that as long as the child is in the woman's lap, it is one suckling, even if he releases the breast several times, because they are all considered connected to one another.
The questioner : Until he is satisfied.
The Shaykh : It is not a condition that he be satisfied. The important thing is that this suckling be separate from another suckling that follows it, with a time interval between them such that this one is not considered connected to the other.
The questioner : So these are in different sittings; this one is in one sitting and the other in another sitting.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, yes, yes. This is the closest to the truth.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Each one in a separate sitting.
The questioner : Which of the two opinions is stronger?
The Shaykh : The stronger one in my view is this.
The questioner : That each...
The Shaykh : The determining factor is...
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The sittings.
The questioner : The sittings.
The Shaykh : ...a suckling, five sucklings. If there are five sucklings, it means that each suckling must be verified as separate from the other.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
This listener is Alaa al-Din 'Ata Shihata, an Egyptian working in Iraq, who sent a question.
The Shaykh : This is also a matter in which the scholars have differed.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Some of them hold that a suckling is the act of taking the breast into the mouth. So as long as the child is holding the breast, it is one suckling. If he releases it and returns to it, even immediately, it is another suckling.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : On this view, it is possible to complete the five sucklings in one sitting. Some scholars have said that a suckling is an act, and it is like a meal or a bite. They hold that as long as the child is in the woman's lap, it is one suckling, even if he releases the breast several times, because they are all considered connected to one another.
The questioner : Until he is satisfied.
The Shaykh : It is not a condition that he be satisfied. The important thing is that this suckling be separate from another suckling that follows it, with a time interval between them such that this one is not considered connected to the other.
The questioner : So these are in different sittings; this one is in one sitting and the other in another sitting.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, yes, yes. This is the closest to the truth.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Each one in a separate sitting.
The questioner : Which of the two opinions is stronger?
The Shaykh : The stronger one in my view is this.
The questioner : That each...
The Shaykh : The determining factor is...
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The sittings.
The questioner : The sittings.
The Shaykh : ...a suckling, five sucklings. If there are five sucklings, it means that each suckling must be verified as separate from the other.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
This listener is Alaa al-Din 'Ata Shihata, an Egyptian working in Iraq, who sent a question.