رضاع الكبير
Raḍāʿ al-kabīr
Topic
A single report about adult breastfeeding, understood by most scholars as a special case.
What it means
The Quran speaks of mothers nursing for two years (2:233) and of foster-mothers as mothers (4:23). A report in Sahih Muslim tells of Sahla, who asked the Prophet about Salim, a young man brought up in her household, and was told to nurse him. Most scholars hold that fosterage creates a bond only in infancy, since the Prophet said “nursing is only from hunger”, meaning when it nourishes the child (Sahih al-Bukhari), and treat the report as a case limited to that household.
What the sources say
Aisha held a different view, and the other wives of the Prophet did not follow it. The Hanafis allow two and a half years and the majority two years.