There is a ritual in Islam that no Muslim will tell you about.
It is the perverted practise of Adult Breastfeeding.
Read the following authentic hadith carefully.
It was narrated that ‘Aishah said:
“Sahlah bint Suhail came to the Prophet and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I see signs of displeasure on the face of Abu Hudhaifah when Salim enters upon me.” The Prophet said: “Breastfeed him.” She said: “How can I breastfeed him when he is a grown man? The Messenger of Allah smiled and said: “I know that he is a grown man.” So she did that, then she came to the Prophet and said: “I have never seen any signs of displeasure on the face of Abu Hudhayfah after that.” And he was present at (the battle of) Badr.
Sunan Ibn Majah 1943
What’s the story here? Let’s dive in.
The sordid tale involved Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifah and his wife. The hadith describes a situation where the woman, Sahla bint Suhai expressed concern to Muhammad about her husband Abu Hudhaifah’s discomfort with Salim entering their home frequently.
Salim went into Abu Hudhaifah’s home often even when his wife was alone. Abu Hudhaifah wasn’t happy with the arrangement. But apparently he said and did nothing. His wife took it upon herself to go and consult Muhammad believing he would have some wise counsel to dispense.
What was Muhammad’s brilliant remedy?
Tell Salim to stop coming, or at least to come by only when Abu Hudhaifah was at home? That would have been the rational advice to give. That’s not what Muhammad prescribed.
The Prophet advised her to breastfeed Salim!
Why? Apparently, this would establish a familial bond that would mitigate any perceived impropriety. In other words, Muhammad told her that by breastfeeding Salim, he could then be considered her “son”. And therefore, Salim, having been breastfed, could now come in and go out of the home freely. After all, he’s now family and Sahla would be like mother to him! What a sick and twisted idea.
According to this hadith, Sahla was taken aback by Muhammad’s indecent proposal. Salim was not a child. He was a full grown adult!
The hadith goes on to say that the prophet smiled hearing her concern. You’d have to wonder what kind of a smile it was. Was it a creepy perverted smile? He had just instructed her to show her breast to some man who was not her husband and allow the man to suckle on it! And he smiles at her in return when she responded “How can I breastfeed him when he is a grown man?” Muhammad replies, “I know he is a grown man.” What a guy, huh?
Following this, Sahla does breastfeed Salim. Can you imagine it? Abu Hudhaifah sitting outside of his home waiting pateintly while his wife and Salim finish up “feeding time”. The hadith ends with Abu Hudhaifah no longer feeling upset with Salim’s presence in and around his house and his wife. How sick can one be?
Now you can understand why Muslims won’t tell you about this.
Is the comand to breastfeed adults found in the Quran?
I’m glad you asked. The answer to your question is YES and NO. This opens up another can of worms for Islam.
‘A’isha (Allah be pleased with, her) reported that it had been revealed in the Holy Qur’an that ten clear sucklings make the marriage unlawful, then it was abrogated (and substituted) by five sucklings and Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) died and it was before that time (found) in the Holy Qur’an (and recited by the Muslims).
(Sahih Muslim 1452a)
The hadith claims that the verses regarding breasfeeding had been revealed by Allah in the Quran! First, it was 10 times breastfeeding. (That is, Sahla would have had to breastfeed Salim 10 times before the familial repationship can be confirmed.) Then, apparently, Allah changed his mind and decided on 5 breastfeedings.
Where is the 10x breastfeeding verse? It’s not in the Quran. Even if it had been replaced by the 5x breastfeeding verse, where is this verse? That’s not found in the Quran either! In fact, there is absolutely nothing with regard to adult breastfeeding! What happened? How many times has the Quran changed? From 10 breastfeedings to 5 breastfeedings to none! Where are these verses?
Notice the hadith clearly says, “it was before that time (found) in the Holy Qur’an (and recited by the Muslims).” Muslims do not recite verses about breastfeeding today while the early Muslims did during the time of Muhammad. Then Muhammad died, and for some reason the breastfeeding verses disappeared! What happened to it?
The answer is found here…
It was narrated that ‘Aishah said:
“The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it.”
(Sunan Ibn Majah 1944)
What happened to the verses about adult breastfeeding? Why isn’t it found in the Quran today? Why isn’t it recited today? A tame sheep ate the paper that the verses were written on! The mystery is solved!
The early Muslims used to recite these verses when it was in the Quran but no Muslim recite them anymore because it is no lnger in the Quran. However, the practise of adult breastfeeding is still done in Islam. When Muhammad died, a sheep ate the verse and it was forever lost in the digestive system of that sheep. Perhaps the sheep a left a little “nugget” of Allah’s revelation somewhere behind Muhammad’s house.
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Question:
Please clarify the following hadith.
A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Sahla bint Suhail came to Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Messenger of Allah, I see on the face of Abu Hudhaifa (signs of disgust) on entering of Salim (who is an ally) into (our house), whereupon Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: Suckle him. She said: How can I suckle him as he is a grown-up man? Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) smiled and said: I already know that he is a young man.
Was he suckled at the breast or form a cup?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Let us first look at the translation of the Hadith mentioned in the Sahih of Imam Muslim and elsewhere:
Sayyida A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reports that Sahla bint Suhayl came to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and said: “O Messenger of Allah! I see on the face of Abu Hudhayfa (signs of dislike) on the entering of Salim, who is an ally, (into our house). The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Suckle him.” She said: “How can I suckle him as he is a grown-up man? The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) smiled and said: “I already know that he is a young man.” (Sahih Muslim, no: 1453)
Another version of this Hadith is as follows:
Sayyida A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) reports that Salim, the freed-slave of Abu Hudhayfa, lived with him and his family in their house. She (i.e. the daughter of Suhayl and wife of Abu Hudhayfa) came to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and said: “Salim has attained (puberty) as men attain, and he has began to understand what they understand, and he enters our house freely, I, however, think that Abu Hudhayfa feels uncomfortable with this. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said to her: “Suckle him and you would become unlawful for him, and (the dislike) which Abu Hudhayfa feels in his heart will disappear.” She returned and said: “I have suckled him and what (was there) in the heart of Abu Hudhayfa has disappeared.” (Sahih Muslim)
Before coming to any sort of conclusion, we need to first understand the background and context of this incident. Imam Abu al-Abbas al-Qurtubi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his commentary of Sahih Muslim:
“Salim (in this Hadith) is Salim ibn Ma’qal…Abu Hudhayfa had adopted him in accordance with the customs of the Arabs. He (Salim) had been brought up and raised by Abu Hudhayfa and his wife as their own son. When the verse of the Qur’an “Call them (your adopted children) by (the names of) their (real) fathers….”Surah al-Ahzab, V: 5) was revealed, the ruling of adopting children was abrogated (in that one can no longer consider an adopted son to be one’s own). However, Salim continued to reside and enter the house of Sahla (the wife of Abu Hudhayfa) as he was a minor. When he grew old and came close to puberty, both Abu Hudhayfa and Sahla disliked the idea of him entering freely upon Sahla, but they found it difficult to mention this to him, given the fact that he had lived with them (and was brought up by them), hence they asked the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) regarding this. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said to Sahla: “Suckle him and you would become unlawful for him, and (the dislike) which Abu Hudhayfa feels in his heart will disappear” hence she suckled him and it so happened (i.e. the dislike of Abu Hudhayfa disappeared)…” (al-Mufhim lima Ashkal min talkhis Kitab Muslim, 4/186, Dar Ibn Kathir print)
The above clearly illustrates that Salim was adopted by Abu Hudhayfa and his wife Sahla. He had lived with them and was raised and brought up by them since childhood. However, Islam does not recognize legal adoption and a adopted child is not considered a real child, hence after reaching puberty, the rules of Hijab are applicable. It became very difficult for Salim to live with his adoptive mother due to this rule, thus the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) advised Sahla to make Salim drink her breast-milk, whereby the rules of Hijab would be lifted.
It is narrated in the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa’d and elsewhere that Sahla would pour her breast-milk into a utensil each day for five continuous days and Salim would drink from it. He did not directly drink from the breast of Sahla, as it is not permitted to expose one’s awra in front of a non-Mahram adult let alone have him suckled. Thus, the objection raised by some non-Muslims that this was an immoral act has no significance, for Sahla did not directly suckle Salim, as he had reached puberty. Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (Allah have mercy on him) has also mentioned this in his al-Isaba fi tamiz al-Sahaba. (See: Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d, 8/271 & al-Isaba, 4/337)
This leaves us with the question whether is it allowed for an adult to drink breast-milk, and what implications would that hold?
It is a well-known and recognised fact amongst the majority of the Muslim jurists (fuqaha) that suckling is not permitted after two (or 2 and a half) years, neither does it affect the rules of Hijab and marriage. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) quite clearly mentioned this in one Hadith where he said: “…suckling is only valid if it takes place in the suckling period.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 2504 & Sahih Muslim, no. 1455) The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) also said: “Suckling (radha’a) does not prohibit (i.e. marriage) except which penetrates the intestines (m: meaning which serves as a nourishment for the child) from the breasts, and it is prior to weaning.” (Recorded by Imam al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, no. 1152)
Due to the above narrations, all four Sunni schools of Islamic law are in agreement that suckling and breastfeeding will only be considered (i.e. in effecting the rules of marriage and Hijab) if it takes place in the period designated for it, and it is of no significance after that period.
Thus, scholars mention that the permission given by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) for Sahla to give her milk to Salim was a special dispensation and an isolated case, and it cannot be generalized. Imam Abu al-Abbas al-Qurtubi (Allah have mercy on him) states that all of the Prophet’s wives with the exception of A’isha (Allah be pleased with them all) considered this to be a special dispensation, and this is the view taken by the majority of early (salaf) and late (khalaf) scholars. They considered the Hadith to be specific with Salim and Sahla, and are of the opinion that it is not permitted for an adult to drink breast-milk. If an adult did drink breast-milk, it will be of no consequence with regards to marriage and the rules of Hijab. (See: al-Mufhim, 4/186-187 & I’la al-Sunan, 11/119)
Moreover, Umm Salama, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) used to say: “All the wives of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) rejected the idea that one can come to them (without observing the rules of Hijab) with this type of breastfeeding (i.e. the suckling of an adult), hence they said to A’isha (Allah be pleased with her): “By Allah, we do not consider this but a dispensation given by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) for Salim. No one is to be allowed to enter (our houses) with this type of fosterage and we do not subscribe to this view.” (Sahih Muslim, no: 1454)
Thus, in conclusion, it is not permitted for an adult to intentionally drink breast-milk; neither will it have any bearing on the rules of Hijab and marriage. The companion Salim (Allah be pleased with him) was given a special dispensation by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) to drink the milk of Sahla, the wife of Abu Hudhayfa, due to the special circumstances of their case. However, Salim did not directly drink the milk from the breast of Sahla, rather, she would pour the milk in a utensil and he would drink from it.
And Allah knows best
[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
If you read the hadith carefully…
Allah’s Apostle said: Suckle him. She said: How can I suckle him as he is a grown-up man?
To suckle means to drink from the breast. Drinking from a cup is not suckling.
What did Muhammad say in the hadith? “Suckle him.” It is clear.
The woman, Sahla, understood it well. This is why she responded “How can I suckle him as he is a grown-up man?”
If Muhammad didn’t mean “drink from the breast” then he would not have said, “Suckle.”
If Muahmmad meant “drink from a cup”, then Sahla would not need to mention that he is a grown man!
Just re recognise the hadith
Don’t be afraid
Abdul,
You didn’t address the problem.
What happened to the verses on breastfeeding?