Adult Suckling: Difference between revisions

'''Adult suckling''' (Arabic: '''رَضَاعَةُ الْكَبِيرِ'''), or the act of breastfeeding a male adult, is mentioned in several relied-upon collections of [[Hadith|hadiths]]. According to five hadiths in [[Sahih Muslim]], [[Muhammad]] once plainly instructed the daughter of a [[Sahabah|companion]] named Suhail to suckle a "grown-up" freedman named Salim so that Salim would become the daughter's ''mahram'', or a relation whom the daughter could no longer marry, and thus render Salim's cohabitation with the family appropriate and [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|legal]].<ref>[https://quranx.com/Hadith/Muslim/Reference/Hadith-1453 Sahih Muslim, hadiths 3424-3428]</ref> Reports in the Muwatta of Imam Malik<ref>{{Muwatta|30|3|17}}</ref> and Sunan Abu Dawud<ref>{{Ibn Majah|9|3|9|1944}}</ref> add that this instruction was reified by a verse in the [[Qur'an]], Islam's holy scripture, which was still present in the Qur'an after [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]], indicating that it had not been [[Naskh (Abrogation)|abrogated]] by Muhammad while he was alive. The report in Sunan Abu Dawud continues with [[Aisha]], Muhammad's favorite wife, reporting that while she was "preoccupied with [Muhammad's] death", "a tame sheep came in and ate" the scrap of paper upon which the verse of "breastfeeding an adult" was written.

Translated literally, "mahram" means "that which is prohibited (haram)", which explains the phrasing used in the hadiths (e.g. "[he] would become unlawful for [her]"). The word mahram is used to refer to relations who one cannot marry. As a result of mahrams not being permitted to conceive of each other as marital/sexual prospects (e.g. a brother and sister), the female does not have to observe all the requirements of hijab and is permitted to be alone with a male.

==Adult suckling in scripture==

==2007 Azhar fatwas==

In 2007, Dr. Izzat Atiyya, the head of the hadith department at al-Azhar university (one of if the highest authorities in [[Sunni]] Islam today and the world's most renowned Islamic university - often described as the "Harvard of Islam"), issued a [[fatwa]] empowering Muslims to implement the practice of adult suckling to avoid the social and professional inconveniences generated by the requirements of female [[hijab]]. He encouraged that one should be breastfed by a woman's sisters or mother in order to attain mahram status if it was not possible for whatever reason to suckle the woman directly. He also encouraged that women who adopt children, since there is no legal recognition for adoption in Islamic law, ought to breastfeed their adopted sons, no matter their age, so that they can establish a legal mother-son relationship. The fatwa was published in ''al-Watani al-Yawm'', a weekly newspaper published by Egypt's ruling National Democratic Front party, and explained by Dr. Atiyya in person during an interview with the publication. Dr. Atiyya repeatedly declared that the sources he quoted belonged to the Islamic holy texts with the highest possible authority. According to him no less than 90,000 contemporary scholars confirmed that the hadith referred to is authentic. Dr. Abd Al-Mahdi Abd Al-Qadir, another scholar at al-Azhar, wrote and published a book rendering similar ideas based on the same Islamic sources prior to Dr. Atiyya's fatwa.<ref name=":0">{{citation|publisher=MEMRI|date=June 3rd, 2007|url=https://www.memri.org/reports/al-azhar-lecturer-suspended-after-issuing-controversial-fatwa-recommending-breastfeeding-men|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213113417/https://www.memri.org/reports/al-azhar-lecturer-suspended-after-issuing-controversial-fatwa-recommending-breastfeeding-men|author=L. Lavi|chapter=Al-Azhar Lecturer Suspended after Issuing Controversial Fatwa Recommending Breastfeeding of Men by Women in the Workplace|title=Inquiry & Analysis Series|volume=355}}; see also {{citation|title=Al-Watani Al-Yawm|date=May 15th, 2007|location=Egypt|publisher=National Democratic Front Party}}</ref>  

{{Quote|Quote from Dr. Atiyya; Ibid.; see also {{citation|title=Al-Watani Al-Yawm|date=May 22nd, 2007|location=Egypt|publisher=National Democratic Front Party}}|"'''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."}}

The head of the al-Azhar Supreme Council, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, publicly refused to accept Dr. Atiyya's apology.<ref name=":0" />