Is there a specific age limit for breastfeeding, and how is the hadith regarding the breastfeeding of Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, and the hadith of Aisha that she used to order her sister Asma to breastfeed a non-mahram man before he entered her presence, answered?

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We now begin answering the questions, and we ask Allah that the questions be beneficial and that the answer be correct. Seek help from Allah.

The questioner : In the name of Allah, and praise be to Allah. The question we have reached, O honorable Shaykh, the questioner says: Is there a specific age limit for breastfeeding? I mean before the two years and after the two years. And what do you say about the hadith of Salim, the freed slave of Hudhayfah, and what is reported from Aisha that she used to order her sister Asma to breastfeed a non-mahram man before he entered her presence?

The Shaykh : Yes, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
The breastfeeding that establishes a kinship bond is that which comes from a woman, consists of five breastfeedings or more, and occurs before weaning, meaning before the child is fed with food and drink. It was said that the criterion is the two years, meaning the age of two. So the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, differed on whether the criterion is the two years or the criterion is weaning. The correct view is that the criterion is weaning, because if he is weaned before the two years, the milk is no longer his food. And if his weaning is delayed, such that this boy is slow-growing and needs breastfeeding, then if he needs breastfeeding after the two years, he is like one before the two years.
And based on this, if the child breastfed from a woman four times, he would not be her son, because the condition
The student: Five breastfeedings.

The Shaykh : is five breastfeedings. And if the child breastfed after being weaned, he would not be her son, whether that was before the two years or after the two years. And if he breastfed before being weaned five times or more, he is her son, whether before the two years or after the two years. This is the stronger position, based on the hadith: And it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: So if the child breastfed from a woman who has sons and daughters, her sons and daughters become what?
The student: His brothers.

The Shaykh : His brothers. Good. And the sons and daughters of her husband from another woman become his brothers. But those from the woman who breastfed him are his brothers from the mother and father, and the sons and daughters of her husband from another woman are his brothers from the father. Good. And if this nursing woman has sons and daughters from a previous husband, her sons and daughters from the previous husband are his brothers from the mother, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):
Good. Does the brother of the breastfed child become a brother to the sons and daughters of the woman who breastfed him?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Consider the issue; it is not easy. Do the brothers of the breastfed child become brothers to the sons and daughters of the woman who breastfed him?
The student: They do not.

The Shaykh : They do not? And they do not?
The student: They do not.

The Shaykh : Yes, they do not. Good. Is it permissible for his brother to marry the daughter of the woman who breastfed him? The brother of the breastfed child is permitted to marry the daughter of the woman who breastfed him.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : The sister of his brother, my brothers? The sister of his brother? How can he marry the sister of his brother?
The student: It is permissible.

The Shaykh : Permissible?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Pay attention, may Allah reward you. The issue is serious. Is it permissible to marry the sister of his brother?
The student: Yes, it is permissible.

The Shaykh : In any case, the answer is yes, as you said. Let us look at why. How does he marry the sister of his brother? We say this sister is not a sister to him, nor an aunt, nor a maternal aunt. There is no blood relation between them. Therefore, I will give my brothers a rule: "Breastfeeding does not affect anyone except the breastfed child and his descendants" "Breastfeeding does not affect anyone except the breastfed child and his descendants" As for his brothers, his fathers, and his mothers, they have no share in the breastfeeding. Is that clear, my brothers?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Zayn. It remains to be said: Is the breastfeeding of an adult like the breastfeeding of a child? Meaning, if a person breastfed from a woman five times and he is twenty years old, does he become her son? Answer, my brothers. No, we said the condition is what? Before weaning, or before the two years, according to the difference of opinion. But after that, he does not become her son. It is not possible for him to be her son.
So if someone asks: What is the answer regarding the case of Salim? The answer is to say that Salim was adopted by Hudhayfah; he adopted him, meaning he took him as his son. This was before adoption was forbidden, so he was called by that name. Then when Allah abrogated adoption, the bond was severed. But the man had become, for the people of the household, in the position of, say, my brothers, in the position of a son. So it was difficult for them to observe modesty in his presence So she was permitted to breastfeed him while he was an adult, and it was made clear that he becomes forbidden to her. At that point, this hadith is revealed to her. The scholars differed on its tracing. Some scholars, who are the majority, said that this hadith is abrogated because the other hadiths indicate that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect. Some said it is specific to Salim, the freed slave of Hudhayfah. And others said: It is specific, but it is not possible for a similar case to exist for this issue. It is specific, but there is no similar case for this issue. Why? Because adoption was abrogated. Adoption was abrogated, and it is not possible for a similar case to exist. And at that point, analogy is prevented.
So the stronger view is that the breastfeeding of an adult is not valid and has no effect. And what indicates this is that the customary breastfeeding is the breastfeeding of children. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: This is one proof. Another proof is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He warned them, so they said: O Messenger of Allah, what about the in-laws? And the in-laws are the relatives of the husband. He said: Meaning, he is the calamity. If the breastfeeding of an adult were permissible, he would have said: The in-law, the wife breastfeeds him, and the problem ends. But he said: So this indicates that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect. And if it had an effect, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would have guided to it. Thirdly: It follows from the view that the breastfeeding of an adult has an effect that it leads to great dangers. If every woman who does not want her husband, if every morning she prepared a pot of milk from her breast, yes, the first day she gives him a pot, and the second day what? Another pot from her breast, the third day a third pot, the fourth day, the fifth day, my man, we have not reached it, is it forbidden or not forbidden? The fifth day a pot. If five days are completed, she says to him: You are my son through breastfeeding. Ha ha. And the marriage ends. And it is a problem that opens dangerous doors. In any case, the stronger view is that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And the scholars say: "It is possible for a person to have a father through breastfeeding and not have a mother" Meaning, does that mean a man breastfeeds the child and becomes his father through breastfeeding, and he has no mother? I ask you, yes, it is not possible, because a man cannot have milk. But the image of that is that a man has two wives, so one of them breastfeeds this child two times, and the other breastfeeds him three times. The total is five breastfeedings. If we look at each mother individually, she did not breastfeed five times, so she would not be a mother. But the milk is for one man, so he has a father through breastfeeding and not a mother. Yes.