978 – ʿĀ’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A single suckling—or even two—do not create the prohibition.” Recorded by Muslim (1).

Vocabulary:
– lā tuḥarrim: “do not make unlawful.”
– al-maṣṣah: with a fatḥah on the mīm and a doubled ṣād; one act of sucking. Arabs say maṣṣa al-laban yamaṣṣuhu maṣṣan: he sipped the milk in a light draught, drawing breath as he drank.

Points derived from the ḥadīth:

1. The breastfeeding that produces a legal effect—because its benefit passes from the nurse to the infant—is that which consolidates bone and causes flesh to grow. One or two sucklings do not contribute to the child’s development and therefore carry no legal consequence.
2. The ḥadīth indicates that one or two sucklings do not establish the prohibition, for they are negligible. Scholars hold different views on this, and the matter will be examined in detail, Allah willing.
3. The implicit meaning is that copious nursing does render marriage unlawful; the forthcoming ḥadīth, “What is unlawful through lineage is unlawful through nursing,” will be explained later, Allah willing.
4. Since one or two sucklings do not make anything unlawful, the prohibition is established only by five distinct sucklings, as will be clarified in another ḥadīth of ʿĀ’ishah shortly, Allah willing.