Hudhayfah: “Nurse him, and he will become unmarriageable to you,” (1) without saying, “five feedings.” They also cite the report in al-Sahih concerning the man to whom a woman came and informed him that she had nursed him and his wife; the Prophet ﷺ then instructed him to separate from her. He said, “How can I, when it has been said?” (2) The Messenger ﷺ did not ask—or seek further clarification—as to how many times she had nursed him. This indicates that a specified number is not a condition.

The response to these texts is that they are unrestricted, whereas they are qualified by the explicit wording of Aishah’s hadith and by the implied meaning of the hadith: “One suckling, or two sucklings, do not establish prohibition.” (3)

Some scholars said that three feedings establish prohibition. They cited the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “One suckling, or two sucklings, do not establish prohibition,” and his statement ﷺ: “One mouthful, or two mouthfuls, do not establish prohibition.” (4) They said: the explicit wording of the hadith establishes that two have no effect, while the numerical implication is that anything beyond two establishes prohibition. Furthermore, we see that the Lawgiver has given consideration to the number three in many matters, such as divorce, performing ablution three times, fasting three days of every month, seeking permission to enter, and other matters; unlike five, which has no basis.

However, the answer to this is that the indication that three are effective is based on implication, whereas the indication that nothing less than five is effective is based on explicit wording, and the indication