The Book of Marriage, Breastfeeding, Divorce, Mutual Oath-Swearing, and Manumission-06b

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Sahih, in the Book of Breastfeeding:
Amr al-Naqqad and Ibn Abi 'Umar narrated to us, saying: Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah narrated to us from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim from his father from 'A'ishah, who said: .

The Shaykh : In which chapter?
The reader: ...

The Shaykh : Where have we reached here? We have reached the prohibition by five breastfeedings. Have you finished it? Did we take the five breastfeedings, what they are, and explain them?
The student: We took them...

The Shaykh : But did we explain the hadith of 'A'ishah about the five breastfeedings completely? That is enough, fine.
The reader: She said: Amr added in his narration: "And he had witnessed Badr." And in the narration of Ibn Abi 'Umar: .

The Shaykh : This is the breastfeeding of an adult. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it has an effect or not. That is, if an adult breastfeeds from a woman, does this have an effect or not? The discussion on this involves several issues. The first issue is how he breastfeeds when he is an adult, which is what Suhaylah bint Suhayl found difficult. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed at this question because knowing how he breastfeeds is not hidden. A woman can milk into a vessel and he can drink it, or she can let him suckle from her breast out of necessity. There is no harm in such a thing if necessity calls for it. This is one point. The second is whether the breastfeeding of an adult makes marriage forbidden or not. Some scholars say that the breastfeeding of an adult is forbidden due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: . This is the position of the Zahiris. They do not distinguish between necessity and non-necessity; rather, they say that whenever a person breastfeeds from a woman, whether he is small or large, she is his mother through breastfeeding. They argued, as I mentioned to you, with the generality of "your mothers who breastfed you." There is a consideration in arguing with this verse, and that is that Allah said "your mothers," and it is known that a mother only breastfeeds her child for two years, as Allah the Exalted said: . So it is not possible for her to be a mother if she breastfed him after the time of breastfeeding has passed. Some people of knowledge said that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect at all, due to the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . The meaning of "from famine" is that which occurs due to famine, and by which famine is averted. This does not happen except in one whose food is what? Milk. And because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , they said, "O Messenger of Allah, what about the in-laws?" He said: . And he did not direct them to breastfeeding, even though necessity was calling for it. This indicates that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect. This is the position of the majority of scholars and it is the correct one. Some distinguished and said that if necessity calls for it, there is no harm in nursing him while he is an adult, and he becomes her son. They argued with the hadith of Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the wife of Abu Hudhayfah, Suhaylah bint Suhayl: . This is because he needed to enter the house. So every necessity is analogous to this. But we say that the evidence is more specific than the ruling. If the evidence is more specific than the ruling, it cannot be used as evidence for what is broader than its ruling, because that would be imposing on the text what it does not bear. This is because the story of Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, cannot occur, because Salim was a son of Abu Hudhayfah whom he had adopted. And the word inserted in this hadith, "who is his client," means his son whom he adopted. And adoption has been abrogated by the Shari'ah, so it cannot return. Therefore, the saying that this is specific to Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, is a correct saying, but it is not specific to him personally, but rather specific to his situation. That is, if a situation similar to the situation of Salim is found, the ruling is established. And it is known now that it cannot happen. Therefore, the breastfeeding of an adult after the case of Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, cannot have an effect. This is the stronger opinion, and it is the one to which one must resort, due to the indication of the evidence, and due to the danger in the opinion that it has an effect. Because any woman who does not want her husband does not find it difficult to make milk for him in a milk vessel and he drinks it without knowing, and then she becomes his mother through breastfeeding, and the marriage is annulled. So this opinion is the correct one: that the breastfeeding of an adult now has no effect at all, because the situation that occurred in the story of Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, cannot return.