What is the correct ruling regarding the age limit in the issue of breastfeeding? And giving contemporary examples similar to the case of Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, regarding the breastfeeding of an adult.

The Shaykh : Here is a question. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Muslim narrated from Aisha that she said: دخل عليَّ رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم - وعندي ‌رجل ‌قاعد ، فاشتَدَّ ذلك عليه ورأيت الغضبَ في وجهه ، قالت : فقلت : يا رسول الله ، إنَّه أخي من الرضاعة . قالت : فقال : انظرن إخوتكنَّ من الرضاعة ، فإنما الرضاعة من المجاعة .
وروى مسلم عن عائشة ، قالت : جاءت سهلة بنت سهيل إلى النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - ، فقالت : يا رسول الله ، إني أرى في وجه أبي حذيفة من دخول سالم وهو حليفه ، فقال النبي - صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم - : أرضعيه ، قالت : وكيف أرضعه وهو رجل كبير ؟ فتبسم رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - وقال : قد علمت أنه رجل كبير The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) came in and found a man sitting with me. This caused him great distress, and I saw anger on his face. She said: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, he is my brother through breastfeeding." She said: He said, "Look at your brothers through breastfeeding, for breastfeeding is from hunger." Muslim narrated from Aisha that she said: Suhayla bint Suhayl came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, I see in the face of Abu Hudhayfah displeasure at the entry of Salim, who is his client." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Breastfeed him." She said, "How can I breastfeed him when he is an old man?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled and said, "I know that he is an old man.". The questioner : The scholars have differed on the issue of breastfeeding regarding the determination of the age limit, so what is the correct ruling or the ruling we should rely upon in the issue of breastfeeding? The Shaykh : This issue has indeed been a subject of much disagreement among the scholars. What should be mentioned briefly in this limited time, and what is appropriate for what came in the question, is to mention two schools of thought. The first school is the Hanafi school, which states that if a person breastfeeds during the age of breastfeeding, which is two complete years, even if it is just a single suck, this infant becomes the son of the wet nurse and the son of her husband, whose milk caused this. Another school, which is the exact opposite, states that one, two, three, or four breastfeedings do not establish prohibition; rather, it is five full breastfeedings. This is the correct opinion, which is found in "Sahih Muslim," that it is only five full breastfeedings that establish prohibition. Once we understand this detail, it becomes easier for us to understand the first hadith, in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon Aisha and found an old man with her. She saw displeasure on his face, as if he was indicating to Aisha that this is a strange man, what is he doing with you? He is not your brother, nor is he, for example, your maternal uncle from among the mahrams. So when she saw the anger on his face (peace and blessings be upon him), she said: O Messenger of Allah, he is my brother through breastfeeding. In reality, if it is established that this man is her brother through breastfeeding, a person should not be angry or affected, because the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: So he is her brother through breastfeeding, and there is no doubt in that. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to draw attention to the fact that breastfeeding, absolute breastfeeding, does not establish prohibition merely because someone says "he breastfed." So, did this brother of Aisha breastfeed one time from Aisha's mother and become her brother through that one breastfeeding? No. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said: Why? This means that the breastfeeding that establishes prohibition is that which satisfies the infant when he breastfeeds while hungry, so he breastfeeds and breastfeeds. As for this infant who sucked just once, it does not affect him; it does not nourish him or grow him, neither his bone nor his flesh. Rather, breastfeeding is from hunger; meaning, the breastfeeding that establishes prohibition is that which satisfies the infant. So in this hadith, there is a very explicit text to invalidate the opinion of one who says that breastfeeding, whatever it is, even if it is little, establishes prohibition. The Messenger did not say: , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed that in another hadith, which is the one mentioned in the question, and it is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . And whoever says that one breastfeeding establishes prohibition has contradicted this hadith of Aisha: and has contradicted this other hadith: .
The third hadith is in "Sahih Muslim"; and for this reason, most scholars did not adopt it. But the truth is that this hadith has a very great place in jurisprudence, as it resolves some problems that some people try to solve by circumventing the Shari'ah. This hadith states: Suhayla bint Suhayl, a noble Companion, came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, I see in the face of Abu Hudhayfah, my husband, displeasure when Salim, their slave, enters. And this is the intended meaning of the phrase in the narration: "and he was his ally," meaning his freed slave whom he had emancipated. The wife of Abu Hudhayfah came to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to complain about a family situation. This family consisted of two spouses and this slave, where whenever this slave entered upon Suhayla, the face of her husband Abu Hudhayfah would change. So she complained of this matter to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She did not want to see the effect of this anger and displeasure, as it is said today, on her husband's face. She wanted to go to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to resolve this problem for her. So the answer to resolve this problem was strange for this woman, indeed for all women, when he said to her: In the second expression, the answer differs... So it was: End. What does this mean? It is as if he is saying to her: I see what you see, that this is an old man! But now, the legal ruling, I mean what I am saying, is that this old man, if you breastfeed him, you become forbidden to him, and what you feel of your husband's anger and displeasure will disappear after you breastfeed him. In another hadith, this narration is summarized, stating that she did so and breastfed the old man, and what was in the heart of Abu Hudhayfah of what he felt, that this man is strange to us, disappeared. The detail of this issue is that Salim was a slave of these two spouses in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. So when they embraced Islam and knew the legal rulings, among which is that a woman must observe hijab from a strange man, so she does not appear before him at all; if it is absolutely necessary, she covers only her face and her hands, and that is all. But this man had become like a part of this house, and it was not easy for him to leave this house. Also, it was not easy for Suhayla to observe hijab every time he entered. So they fell into a problem when hijab was imposed on women. So whenever this strange man entered, she was embarrassed, for Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, might see from her something that is not permissible customarily or legally. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) resolved the problem by ordering her to breastfeed him, and she did so, and what was in the heart of Abu Hudhayfah disappeared.
So this solution of breastfeeding the old man in a specific case is specific to the previous hadith here. Also, it is said regarding general and specific when he said: And this Suhayla breastfed the old man who was Salim. Do you think this man was satisfied from these breastfeedings, and if they were ten breastfeedings, an old man is not satisfied with food that is not filling? So his saying (peace be upon him): is a rule, and the rule in its entirety is also within two complete years for whoever wishes to complete the breastfeeding. But this rule, whether in the five full breastfeedings from hunger or in two complete years, excludes the breastfeeding of the old man to resolve a family problem. This family problem existed at that time because they used to bring in slaves, and women did not observe hijab. So when Allah made hijab obligatory, it became difficult for a woman not to observe hijab whenever her former master entered upon her. And the jealousy of Suhayla's husband, Abu Hudhayfah, took hold, asking how this strange man enters upon her? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said this: . Does such a situation occur today? I present a situation where this hadith can be utilized and benefited from to remove the problem that we imagine now, which is occurring. We all hear that many Europeans, Americans, and others embrace Islam every year; may Allah will it, hundreds or thousands embrace Islam. For example, a man lives with his brother, and one of them has a wife while the other does not, according to the custom of these peoples whom Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) described in the Qur'an, saying: These people do not have anything called forbidden. So the man lives with his brother, and one of them has a wife, as if this wife is the wife of both brothers. So they do not have any cost or embarrassment that, by Allah, my brother is seeing the 'awrah of my wife... And then this family enters Islam. And then this family is surprised that, O our brother, it is not permissible for you to see from my wife except what any strange man sees... So does he leave this house and live alone? There is great hardship; where would he go? Especially since he has embraced Islam; would he live with those who are uncovered and those who display their adornment, for he might be tempted? So he becomes a necessity... So how is the problem resolved?
It is difficult to say that whenever this brother enters his brother's house, the woman must cover herself, and she wants to cover herself but does not want to, and so on. So it is said to her: "Cover yourself," which is difficult. Therefore, one of them must avoid the other; either the woman covers herself from her brother-in-law, or he stays away from her. In both cases, there is hardship. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) resolved this difficulty in such a situation by having the woman breastfeed her husband's brother, thereby removing the problem. This draws attention to a very important issue: it is not permissible for a Muslim man or woman to philosophize about this text and say, "How can this be, when he is an old man?" He (peace be upon him) said: . But this is the ruling of Allah, who knows the secret and what is even more hidden, and who knows the problems that arise in such specific situations. He has provided a solution by having an old man be breastfed, contrary to the general rule. Now, look with me at how some people try to remove this problem through legal stratagems that, in reality, do not solve the problem. A man in this situation is forced to live with whom? With his brother, or with another unrelated man, because they have lived this way. What do they do? They must live, for example, with his brother's wife, and this brother has a small daughter from his wife, perhaps six years old, who can be breastfed. So they have the brother contract marriage with whom? With this girl. Her mother becomes his mother-in-law, so he can enter her presence on the basis that she is his mother-in-law. Is this solution correct? No, this is twisting and turning. The proof is that if this man who contracted marriage with this little girl were to grow up and reach the age of marriage, her father or mother would not want her for him. Indeed, actions are by intentions. But why did he contract marriage with her? He used to enter his mother's presence. He said, "To remove the hardship." This is a stratagem that is not befitting Islam. The solution is this: . This is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.