-
Suckling renders marriage unlawful even when it is performed for a full-grown youth or an elderly man.
-
Suckling does not create the prohibition unless it takes place during early childhood—except in the unusual circumstance where an adult’s nursing becomes necessary because he must frequently enter the household and it would be unduly difficult for the women to remain secluded from him.
Those who adopted the first opinion include al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and the two leading students of Abū Ḥanīfah, Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan. It is also authentically reported from ʿUmar, Ibn Masʿūd, Abū Hurayrah, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Ibn ʿUmar. A similar view is related from al-Shaʿbī, and it is the position of Sufyān, Isḥāq, and Ibn al-Mundhir.
Their evidence is the verse: “Mothers shall breastfeed their children for two complete years for those who wish to complete the nursing” (Quran 2:233). Since the verse makes two lunar years the limit for completing nursing, anything beyond that carries no legal effect and therefore does not confer the marital prohibition.
They also cite the Prophet’s ﷺ statement, “Nursing that establishes kinship is only from hunger,” meaning that the relevant period of hunger—when milk is the infant’s food—is the first two years. Al-Dāraqutnī transmits with an authentic chain from Ibn ʿAbbās, traced back to the Prophet ﷺ: “No nursing counts except what occurs within two years.” In Sunan Abī Dāwūd, a hadith of Ibn Masʿūd, traced back to the Prophet ﷺ, states: “No nursing makes marriage unlawful except what causes flesh to grow and bone to strengthen,” and adult suckling has no such effect.
The second opinion is held by all the wives of the Prophet ﷺ except ʿĀʾishah. It is also reported from Ibn ʿUmar and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, and it was the choice of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah. Their proof is the wording found in both Ṣaḥīḥ collections: “Nursing that establishes kinship is only from hunger.” Its general wording implies that as long as milk is the child’s primary nourishment, such nursing establishes the prohibition—a strong and cogent argument.
The third view is espoused by a group of earlier and later scholars, among them ʿĀʾishah. It is also reported from ʿAlī, ʿUrwah, and ʿAṭāʾ, and was adopted by al-Layth ibn Saʿd, Dāwūd, and Ibn Ḥazm, who championed it in his work al-Muḥallā and rebutted the objections of its opponents. Whenever ʿĀʾishah wished to allow a man to enter upon her, she would have her sister, Umm Kulthūm, or her nieces nurse him.
Their proof is the authentic report that Sahlah bint Suhayl said, “Messenger of Allah, Sālim, the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfah, lives in our house and has reached the age of men.” He replied, “Breastfeed him and you will become unlawful for him to marry.” Thereafter he was treated as her foster-son. Muslim narrates this hadith.