Breastfeeding an adult

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Sahlah bint Suhayl bin Amr came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: I see (displeasure) in the face of Abu Hudhayfah because of Salim coming in to me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Suckle him." She said: He is a grown man. He (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed and said: "Do I not know that he is a grown man?" She said: She came to him afterwards and said: After that I did not see anything in the face of Abu Hudhayfah that I disliked. Muslim narrated it in his Sahih from Amr al-Naqid and Ibn Abi Umar, from Ibn Uyaynah.

It is narrated from Ibn Shihab: Urwah bin al-Zubayr informed me from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Abu Hudhayfah bin Utbah bin Rabi'ah bin Abd Shams (may Allah be pleased with him), who was among those who [took part] in Badr with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), adopted Salim as his son and married him to his brother's daughter, Hind bint al-Walid bin Utbah bin Rabi'ah, while he was the freed slave of a woman of the Ansar, just as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had adopted Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him). In the Jahiliyyah the rule was that whoever adopted someone as a son, people would call him his son and he would inherit from him, until Allah Almighty revealed concerning this: "Call them by (the names of) their fathers; that is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in religion and your allies" [Surah al-Ahzab: 5]. So they were returned to their fathers, and whoever's father was not known was an ally or a brother in religion. Sahlah bint Suhayl bin Amr al-Qurashi al-Amiri, the wife of Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we used to regard Salim as our own son, and he lives with me and Abu Hudhayfah in one house, and he sees me [in a state of undress that is not proper for a non-mahram], and Allah Almighty has revealed about them what you know. O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), what is your view about him? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Suckle him." So she suckled him five times, and he became like her son through suckling. For this reason Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) used to order her brother's daughters to suckle five times whomever Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) wished to come in to her and see her, and then he could come in to her. But Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) and all the other wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refused to let anyone come in to them on the basis of that kind of suckling unless he had been suckled in the cradle (in infancy), and they said to Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): By Allah, we think that this was a concession that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted specially to Salim alone, and to no one else.

It is narrated from al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him): Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) informed me from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and he narrated the long hadith in the same way, except that he said: Because of this, Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) used to order the daughters of her sisters and the daughters of her brothers. And Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) and all the other wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refused to let anyone at all come in to them on the basis of that suckling. The rest is the same.
Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih from Yahya bin Bukayr and Abu al-Yaman.

It is narrated from Ibn Shihab (may Allah have mercy on him) that Abu Ubaydah bin Abdullah bin Zam'ah informed me that his mother, Zaynab bint Abi Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), informed him that her mother, Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), used to say: All the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refused to let anyone enter upon them by virtue of that (kind of) nursing, and they said to Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "By Allah, we consider this to be only a concession that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted to Salim specifically. No one shall enter upon us by virtue of this nursing, nor see us." Muslim recorded it in this way in his Sahih.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Since this was specific to Salim, then what is specific is excluded from the general ruling, and it can only be that the nursing of an adult does not establish prohibition.

Masruq narrates from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon me while a man was with me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah, who is this?" I said: He is my foster brother. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah, look carefully at who your foster brothers are, for fosterage is established only through (nursing that) removes hunger." Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded it in his Sahih from Muhammad bin Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him), and Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded it in the Sahih through two other chains from Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him).

Ash'ath bin Abi al-Sha'tha' narrates from his father that he said: I heard Masruq saying: I heard Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) saying: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon me while a man was with me, and I saw displeasure on his (peace and blessings be upon him) face. I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he is my foster brother. She said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Look at who has nursed you, for fosterage is established only through (nursing that) removes hunger." And he said: Bishr said in his narration: "Look at whether they are (truly) your brothers." Bukhari and Muslim recorded it in their Sahihs from the hadith of Shu'bah.

It is narrated from a son of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man had his wife with him while he was on a journey. She gave birth, and the baby could not suckle. Her husband began sucking her milk and spitting it out, until he felt the taste of her milk in his throat. He came to Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioned this matter to him. Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Your wife has become unlawful to you. The man then came to Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said (to Abu Musa): Are you the one who gave him such-and-such a ruling, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has said: "There is no fosterage except what strengthens the bones and grows the flesh"?

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "There is no fosterage except what strengthens the bones and grows the flesh." Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do not ask me (questions) while this learned scholar is among you."

Abu Musa al-Hilali narrates from his father, and he from Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and he from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with the same meaning, and he said: "What makes the bones grow."

It is narrated from Abu Atiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man came to Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: My wife's breasts became swollen, so I sucked them, and something entered my throat before I could stop it. Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) was strict with him. Then the man came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "Have you asked anyone other than me?" He said: Yes, Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him), and he was strict with me. So he (Ibn Mas'ud) came to Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "Is this one a nursling?" (i.e., is he a foster child?) Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do not ask me (questions) as long as this learned scholar is present among you," or (he said): "as long as he is in your midst." Al-Thawri narrated it from Abu Husayn, and in it he added these words from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "Fosterage is what grows the flesh and the blood."

It is narrated from al-Nazzal bin Sabrah and Masruq bin al-Ajda' that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "There is no fosterage after weaning."
This hadith is mawquf (stopping at the Companion), and it has also been narrated as marfu' (attributed to the Prophet).

Al-Nazzal bin Sabrah narrates from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Divorce is only after marriage; there is no freeing (of a slave) before ownership; there is no fosterage after weaning; there is no wisal in fasting, that is, keeping voluntary fasts continuously without a break; and there is no keeping silent for a whole day until night."
Abd al-Razzaq said: Sufyan said to Ma'mar: Juwaybir narrated this hadith to us and did not make it marfu'. Ma'mar said: He narrated it to us many times and made it marfu'.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Dinar that a man came to Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) while I was with him near the court, and he asked Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) about the nursing of an adult. Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: A man came to Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: I have a slave woman and I used to have intercourse with her. My wife went to her and nursed her with her own milk. When I went in to her, my wife said: Keep away, by Allah, I have nursed her. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Punish her (your wife), and go to your slave woman, that is, have intercourse with her. Fosterage is only established at a young age.

Nafi' narrates from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a woman of the Ansar went to her husband's slave woman and nursed her. When her husband came, she said: This slave woman of yours has become your daughter. He went to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioned this matter to him. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: I firmly instruct you that when you return, you are to have relations with your slave woman and to punish your wife on her back.
In the narration of Abdullah bin Dinar it says: Fosterage is (only) that of a young child.

It is narrated from Nafi', who narrates from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Nothing becomes unlawful through nursing except what takes place at a young age."

Malik informed us, narrating from Nafi', and he from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Fosterage is only for one who is nursed at a young age."