Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Does one instance of breastfeeding establish the foster relationship (raḍāʿah)? Some people present narrations to support this—what is the correct view?
✿ Answer:
Some individuals claim that even a single instance of breastfeeding establishes fosterage (raḍāʿah). Below is a brief analysis of the evidences they cite:
❌ Fabricated or Weak Narration:
Narration attributed to ʿAlī رضي الله عنه wherein the Prophet ﷺ allegedly said:
«يَحْرُمُ مِنَ الرَّضَاعَةِ مَا يَحْرُمُ مِنَ النَّسَبِ، قَلِيلُهُ وَكَثِيرُهُ»
“That which is prohibited due to lineage is also prohibited due to breastfeeding—whether a little or a lot.”
📚 Cited in: Jāmiʿ Masānīd al-Imām Abī Ḥanīfah by al-Khwārazmī: 2/97
Status: Fabricated (Mawḍūʿ)
Reasons for Rejection:
① Chain includes unknown and unreliable narrators:
– Abū al-Muwaffaq (author) narrates through Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥārithī, who is abandoned (matrūk) and a liar (kadhdhāb).
– Ibrāhīm bin Jarrāḥ is majhūl al-ḥāl (unknown reliability), affirmed only by Ibn Ḥibbān.
– Aḥmad bin ʿAbdullāh al-Kindī was declared by al-Dhahabī to be a narrator of strange (munkar) narrations.
– Ibn ʿAdī said: “He narrated false and rejected reports.”
📚 Lisān al-Mīzān by Ibn Ḥajar: 1/199
② Ḥakam bin ʿUtaybah is a mudallis (ambiguous in transmission) and did not clarify hearing.
③ Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf and his teachers are considered weak by the majority of hadith scholars.
❌ Weak Athar from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه:
When someone quoted the narration:
«لَا تُحَرِّمُ الرَّضْعَةُ وَلَا الرَّضْعَتَانِ»
“One or two feedings do not establish prohibition.”
Ibn ʿAbbās allegedly replied:
«قَدْ كَانَ ذَاكَ، فَأَمَّا الْيَوْمَ، فَالرَّضْعَةُ الْوَاحِدَةُ تُحَرِّمُ»
“That used to be the case, but now a single feeding is sufficient to establish prohibition.”
📚 Aḥkām al-Qur’ān by al-Jaṣṣāṣ: 2/125
Status: Very Weak (Saghīf Jiddan)
– Narrators include:
① Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar: Mudallis, with no statement of hearing.
② Ḥajjāj bin Arṭāh: Declared weak and forgetful, also a mudallis.
③ Ḥabīb bin Abī Thābit: Another mudallis, without clear indication of direct hearing.
❌ Weak Athar from ʿAlī and ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنهما:
“A little or a lot of breastfeeding establishes prohibition.”
📚 Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 3313
Status: Weak
– Saʿīd bin Abī ʿArūbah: Mudallis, without affirmation of direct hearing.
– According to hadith methodology, the narration of a mudallis without clarification of direct hearing is not accepted, except in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Muslim (when explicitly mentioned).
❗ Note:
Some early scholars did hold the opinion that even one feeding establishes raḍāʿah, including:
- ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar
📚 Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/466, Ḥadīth 13911 – Chain: Ṣaḥīḥ - Ṭāwūs bin Kaysān
📚 Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/467, Ḥadīth 13918 – Chain: Ṣaḥīḥ - ʿAṭāʾ bin Abī Rabāḥ
📚 Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/466 – Chain: Ṣaḥīḥ
However, these views are considered weak (marjūḥ) when compared to clear and authentic ḥadīths, such as:
«لَا تُحَرِّمُ الرَّضْعَةُ وَلَا الرَّضْعَتَانِ»
“One or two feedings do not establish prohibition.”
📚 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1450
This hadith confirms that raḍāʿah is not established by one or two feedings.
✅ Conclusion:
① The claim that one feeding establishes fosterage is based on weak or fabricated narrations.
② Reliable and authentic ḥadīths clearly state that multiple feedings are required (at least five distinct feedings).
③ The majority of scholars have accepted that less than five feedings do not establish raḍāʿah.
