Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1945
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ أَشْعَثَ بْنِ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا وَعِنْدَهَا رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ " مَنْ هَذَا " . قَالَتْ هَذَا أَخِي . قَالَ " انْظُرُوا مَنْ تُدْخِلْنَ عَلَيْكُنَّ فَإِنَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ مِنَ الْمَجَاعَةِ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) came in while a man was with her and asked, ‘Who is this?’ She replied, ‘He is my brother.’ He said, ‘Be careful whom you allow to come in to you, for breastfeeding counts only when it is due to hunger.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase al-rada‘ah min al-maja‘ah literally says breastfeeding is ‘from hunger’; the report does not further explain its scope.
قَالَ " انْظُرُوا مَنْ تُدْخِلْنَ عَلَيْكُنَّ فَإِنَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ مِنَ الْمَجَاعَةِ " .
The phrase ‘breastfeeding is from hunger’ is concise and does not specify the exact age or legal scope in this report.
Should the phrase be rendered literally or expanded to specify infant feeding?