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Al-Azhar fatwa on adult suckling

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ak_m_f View Drop Down
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    Posted: 15 August 2007 at 2:51am
The head of the Hadith Department in Al-Azhar University, Dr. Izzat Atiyya, recently issued a controversial fatwa dealing with breastfeeding of adults. The fatwa stated that a woman who is required to work in private with a man not of her immediate family - a situation that is forbidden by Islamic law - can resolve the problem by breastfeeding the man, which, according to shari�a, turns him into a member of her immediate family.

�Being together in private means being in a room with the door closed, so that nobody can see them� A man and a woman who are not family members are not permitted [to do this], because it raises suspicions and doubts. A man and a woman who are alone together are not [necessarily] having sex, but this possibility exists, and breastfeeding provides a solution to this problem� I also insist that the breastfeeding relationship be officially documented in writing� The contract will state that this woman has suckled this man� After this, the woman may remove her hijab and expose her hair in the man�s [presence]�

Dr. Atiyya further explained that the breastfeeding does not necessarily have to be done by the woman herself. �The important point,� he said, �is that the man and the woman must be related through breastfeeding. [This can also be achieved] by means of the man�s mother or sister suckling the woman, or by means of the woman�s mother or sister suckling the man, since [all of these solutions legally] turn them into brother and sister�

�The logic behind [the concept] of breastfeeding an adult is to transform the bestial relationship between [two people] into a religious relationship based on [religious] duties� Since [this] breastfeeding takes place between [two] adults, the man is still permitted to marry the woman [who breastfed him], whereas [a woman] who nursed [a man] in his infancy is not permitted to marry him�

    In response to the uproar caused by the fatwa, Al-Azhar university formed a committee of several experts on hadiths to investigate the matter. According to a senior Al-Azhar source, the university president also ordered Dr. Atiyya to publish an apology, and the latter complied and retracted his fatwa, [2] explaining: �My statements on the issue of breastfeeding an adult were based on the imams Ibn Hazm, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Al-Shawkani and Amin Khattab [Al-Subki], and on conclusions I drew from the statements of Ibn Hajar [Al-Askalani]. However, I hold that only the breastfeeding of an infant creates a family relationship [that prohibits marriage between the parties and allows them to be together], as the Four Imams [i.e., the founders of the four Sunni legal schools] said, while the [act of] breastfeeding a grown man [mentioned in the hadith] was a [specific] incident that came to serve a [specific] purpose, and the fatwa I issued was based solely on my personal interpretation. Based on what I have learned with my brothers the religious scholars, I apologize for my earlier [statements] and retract my opinion, which contradicts [the norms accepted] by the public.� [3]

    However, the Al-Azhar Supreme Council, headed by Al-Azhar Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, refused to accept Dr. Atiyya�s apology, saying, �We must not be too lax in matters of religion, especially when the matter at hand is a fatwa that significantly affects people�s actual lives, inclinations, and views - because it speaks to their natural emotions which [lead them to] embrace what is permitted and shun prohibitions.� Tantawi said, �Society cannot tolerate [a fatwa] that undermines its religious stability. There is enough chaos with all the unsupervised fatwas [published] on some satellite channels.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ak_m_f Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:25pm
so what do you guys think?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote islamispeace Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 August 2007 at 3:00pm
The fatwa does not seem to be specific.  If it means that the man should literally be breastfed, as is done with infants, then I am against it because it actually violates the hadeeth which concerns this issue.  When we look at the actual hadeeth, it should become clear what the Prophet intended:

"'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa, lived with him and his family in their house. She (i. e. the daughter of Suhail came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and said: Salim has attained (purbety) as men attain, and he understands what they understand, and he enters our house freely, I, however, perceive that something (rankles) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa, whereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said to her: Suckle him and you would become unlawful for him, and (the rankling) which Abu Hudhaifa feels in his heart will disappear. She returned and said: So I suckled him, and what (was there) in the heart of Abu Hudhaifa disappeared." (Sahih Muslim, Book 8, Number 3425)

According to the hadeeth, after Sahla took the Prophet's advice, Abu Hudaifa was no longer "uncomfortable", shall we say.  If she had literally breastfed Salim, do you think that Abu Hudaifa would not feel even more uncomfortable?  And yet, the hadeeth says that he actually felt more secure about Salim being in his house with his wife.  What is implied here is that Sahla did not literally suckle him, but probably gave him some of her milk to drink in a cup or something, thereby making him her foster-son, and thus unlawful to him. 

In addition, we need to understand that this was a concession made by the Prophet, taking into account the situation, and he suggested a very simple solution, which in the end, did its job.  This is suggested by another hadeeth which was narrated on the authority of Umm Salama, the Prophet's wife:

"Umm Salama, the wife of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him), used to say that all wives of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) disclaimed the idea that one with this type of fosterage (having been suckled after the proper period) should come to them, and said to 'A'isha: By Allah, we do not find this but a sort of concession given by Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) only for Salim, and no one was going to be allowed to enter (our houses) with this type of fosterage and we do not subscribe to this view." (Sahih Muslim, Book 8, Number 3429)

Therefore, it was allowed in the case of Salim.  Therefore, the fatwa does not make much sense, especially if it suggests literal breastfeeding.  That would be kind of weird.
Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds. (Surat al-Anaam: 162)

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rami Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 August 2007 at 5:49pm

Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

assalamu alaikum

Taken from http://Sunnipath.com

Clarification Of Hadith About The Suckling of A Grown Man   
Answered by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

Please clarify the following hadith.


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 an 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 nakedness (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

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
Darul Iftaa, Leicester, UK

Rasul Allah (sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord" and whoever knows his Lord has been given His gnosis and nearness.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BMZ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 September 2007 at 7:02am

Originally posted by ak_m_f ak_m_f wrote:

The head of the Hadith Department in Al-Azhar University, Dr. Izzat Atiyya, recently issued a controversial fatwa dealing with breastfeeding of adults. The fatwa stated that a woman who is required to work in private with a man not of her immediate family - a situation that is forbidden by Islamic law - can resolve the problem by breastfeeding the man, which, according to shari�a, turns him into a member of her immediate family.

�Being together in private means being in a room with the door closed, so that nobody can see them� A man and a woman who are not family members are not permitted [to do this], because it raises suspicions and doubts. A man and a woman who are alone together are not [necessarily] having sex, but this possibility exists, and breastfeeding provides a solution to this problem� I also insist that the breastfeeding relationship be officially documented in writing� The contract will state that this woman has suckled this man� After this, the woman may remove her hijab and expose her hair in the man�s [presence]�

Dr. Atiyya further explained that the breastfeeding does not necessarily have to be done by the woman herself. �The important point,� he said, �is that the man and the woman must be related through breastfeeding. [This can also be achieved] by means of the man�s mother or sister suckling the woman, or by means of the woman�s mother or sister suckling the man, since [all of these solutions legally] turn them into brother and sister�

�The logic behind [the concept] of breastfeeding an adult is to transform the bestial relationship between [two people] into a religious relationship based on [religious] duties� Since [this] breastfeeding takes place between [two] adults, the man is still permitted to marry the woman [who breastfed him], whereas [a woman] who nursed [a man] in his infancy is not permitted to marry him�

    In response to the uproar caused by the fatwa, Al-Azhar university formed a committee of several experts on hadiths to investigate the matter. According to a senior Al-Azhar source, the university president also ordered Dr. Atiyya to publish an apology, and the latter complied and retracted his fatwa, [2] explaining: �My statements on the issue of breastfeeding an adult were based on the imams Ibn Hazm, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Al-Shawkani and Amin Khattab [Al-Subki], and on conclusions I drew from the statements of Ibn Hajar [Al-Askalani]. However, I hold that only the breastfeeding of an infant creates a family relationship [that prohibits marriage between the parties and allows them to be together], as the Four Imams [i.e., the founders of the four Sunni legal schools] said, while the [act of] breastfeeding a grown man [mentioned in the hadith] was a [specific] incident that came to serve a [specific] purpose, and the fatwa I issued was based solely on my personal interpretation. Based on what I have learned with my brothers the religious scholars, I apologize for my earlier [statements] and retract my opinion, which contradicts [the norms accepted] by the public.� [3]

    However, the Al-Azhar Supreme Council, headed by Al-Azhar Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, refused to accept Dr. Atiyya�s apology, saying, �We must not be too lax in matters of religion, especially when the matter at hand is a fatwa that significantly affects people�s actual lives, inclinations, and views - because it speaks to their natural emotions which [lead them to] embrace what is permitted and shun prohibitions.� Tantawi said, �Society cannot tolerate [a fatwa] that undermines its religious stability. There is enough chaos with all the unsupervised fatwas [published] on some satellite channels.

Oh! Boy.  Could we let Al-Azhar know about Rakhsha Bandhan?

We are already being hammered for hadith of 6-9 on Ayesha and now this?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sawtul Khilafah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 September 2007 at 3:10pm

Al-Azhar are NOT credible, just famous.

They give out some of the most ignorant and ludicrous fatwas, including the one where they declared Shiahs to be "just another school of thought" rather than a Sect (even though the Shiahs themselves believe they are a sect!! and they fit in the definition of sect in any way you think of it) and even insulted Imam Ja'far Sadiq by calling Shiahs the followers of the Ja'fari Madhab (even though the Shiahs contradict the teachings of Imam Jafar Sadiq and instead follow what the pagans of Iraq attributed to them despite the fact that they were KNOWN to be pagans/kafirs!!!).

I have read that al-Azhar is greatly influenced by their apostate Government (which is a puppet of the Zionists).

Another strange thing was that I once found a copy of the Qur'an published by al-Azhar which had 666 pages!!!! Why would al-Azhar do that....I wonder...!

Are they trying to convince Christians that Islam is Satanic, or are they trying to paganise Islam? Either way they are not to be trusted.



Edited by Sawtul Khilafah
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rd2069 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 September 2009 at 11:21am
The essence of this Fatwa is wrong.  Allah (SWT) clearly stated that the complete term for suckling (for those who wish to complete it) is TWO years.  this to me is very clear with no ambiguity. You cannot choose to suckle someone, directly or indirectly after the age of two... That fatwa is wrong.  If the prophet (pbuh) took an exemption based on the hadith stated, then it should be interpreted simply as an exemption, not a way of life... Alazhar is struggling with secularizing Islam and making it acceptable for western cultures by allowing inter-gender mixing and trying to find "loop holes" to justify this.  Wa Allah a3lam 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote honeto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 September 2009 at 3:08pm
I am sorry but I must say this here. This whole thing seems not right. Why? Because adult to adult (opposite sexes) contact, let alone to suckle does not agree with the basic teachings of the Quran.
And as a basic, if a hadith, which is narration of men does not agree with Quran and its teaching, it has no value and consideration for a Muslim, and in no way be taken as a source of division.
I hope I have not stepped off track here by saying this. May Allah guide us to the right.
Hasan 


Edited by honeto - 13 September 2009 at 3:29pm
The friends of God will certainly have nothing to fear, nor will they be grieved. Al Quran 10:62

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