Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1946
حَدَّثَنَا حَرْمَلَةُ بْنُ يَحْيَى، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ وَهْبٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي ابْنُ لَهِيعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي الأَسْوَدِ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ رَضَاعَ إِلاَّ مَا فَتَقَ الأَمْعَاءَ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Breastfeeding counts only when it opens the intestines.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report uses the figurative phrase fataqa al-am‘a’ (‘opens the intestines’) without further explanation.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ رَضَاعَ إِلاَّ مَا فَتَقَ الأَمْعَاءَ " .
The expression ‘opens the intestines’ is figurative, with no clarification of its precise physiological or legal meaning in this report.
Should this be rendered literally or interpreted as feeding that nourishes the child?