Ibn Mas‘ūd: ‘Then fast for three consecutive days.’”
They offered two responses to this objection:
First, there is another authentic hadith on this matter. Moreover, it has not been established that this remained part of the Quran, though its ruling remained in force.
Second, most scholars do not accept this principle; rather, it is Abū Hanīfah’s position. Indeed, Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr reported a scholarly consensus that a non-canonical reading authentically transmitted from the Companions may be used as evidence for legal rulings.
The second view on this issue is that breastfeeding establishes a marriage prohibition regardless of how little or much it involves. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and Mālik, and a weakly transmitted position from Ahmad.
Its proponents cite the apparent meaning of Allah’s words:
“And your mothers who breastfed you and your sisters through breastfeeding.”
They maintain that the term “breastfeeding” is unrestricted in the Quran. As for the hadiths, some scholars had not received them, some considered them weak, and others thought they contradicted the Quran’s apparent meaning and held that solitary reports could neither qualify the general scope of the Quran nor restrict its unrestricted wording.
Those holding the former view replied: “These reports are authentic and established according to hadith scholars. The fact that they did not reach some of the early scholars does not warrant disregarding them on the part of those who know them to be authentic.”
As for the Quran, it may be argued that, just as other evidence establishes that breastfeeding is restricted to a particular age, it likewise establishes that it is restricted to a particular amount.
Similarly, the Sunnah establishes the amount of compensation required in Allah’s words:
“Then compensation by fasting, charity, or sacrifice.”
This is so even though the transmitted report is a solitary report. Indeed, it is just as the Sunnah establishes that “a woman may not be married to a man who is already married to her paternal aunt