In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
There’s a suspicion among our Sunni brethren that read “The Shiites narrate in the book Al-Kafi: Muhammad bin Yahya, from Saad bin Abdullah, from Ibrahim bin Muhammad Al-Thaqafi, from Ali bin Al-Mualla, from his brother Muhammad, from Darrust bin Abi Mansur, from Ali bin Abi Hamza, from Abu Baseer, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) who said: “When the Prophet (s) was born, he spent days without milk, so Abu Talib placed him on his chest, and Allah sent down milk for him, and he nursed from it for days until Abu Talib placed him with Halima Al-Saadiya.”
Does it make sense that the Prophet (s) nursed from Abu Talib? And how does Al-Kulayni narrate such reports?
The response to this suspicion lies in two parts: firstly, examining the chain of transmission regarding this narration, and secondly, analyzing its content.
As for the chain of transmission, this narration is weak and unreliable. Many scholars, including Al-Majlisi in “Mirror of Intellects” (5/252) and Al-Mazandarani’s commentator Al-Muhaffar in “Al-Shafi” (5/574), criticized its chain of transmission, especially regarding Ibrahim bin Muhammad Al-Thaqafi. And likewise, al-Kishi and ‘Allamah Ali Akbar Ghifari are among many from the school of the Ahlulbayt (a) who declared the narration unreliable due to the presence of Ali bin Abi Hamza al-Bata’ini in its chain, who is known to have been an unreliable and blatant liar. This is no secret, even amongst the Wahhabis! Contemporary scholars like Sayyid Sadiq Al-Ruhani also deemed the narration weak in “Answers to Questions” (1/209). Al-Sha’rani, the verifier of “Usul Al-Kafi” by Al-Mazandarani, considered Ali bin Abi Hamza Al-Bata’ini unreliable as he was cursed by Imam Ali Al-Rida (a) for being an originator of heresy and deemed one of the inhabitants of the Hellfire.
Regarding the content, some might find it difficult to accept the idea of the Prophet (s) being nursed by Abu Talib. If this narration were to be accepted assuming its content to be sound despite its weak and unreliable narration chain, our belief is that it highlights a miracle (to be added to the list of miracles associated with the Prophet’s (s) birth), not an ordinary event, as indicated by the phrase “Allah sent down milk for him.” Al-Majlisi mentioned this aspect in the source cited earlier.
It’s worth noting that Sunni scholars mentioned in their jurisprudential books the possibility of men producing milk, with some even suggesting that both men and women’s nursing milk are prohibited. Al-Malik’s “Muwatta” states that Malik did not consider the prohibition of nursing except with human milk. Al-Nawawi in “Riyadh al-Sali’heen” (6/419) mentioned that some scholars argued for the prohibition of men’s milk, while others permitted it.
Thus, what skeptics raise about this narration is a common issue addressed in their own jurisprudential books.
Additionally, before delving into Shia literature, skeptics should first review their own literature regarding the nursing of adults or rida’ al-kabeer, where an incident similar to breastfeeding by a man is mentioned, indicating that such practices were actually prevalent even among early Muslims.
(Source: Tareekh Baghdad, Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi, (5/146/7051))
Below is a translation of that narration:
Abu Al-Hasan Muhammad bin Asad bin Ali bin Sa’id Al-Katib and Al-Hasan bin Abi Bakr informed us, saying: Abu Amr Abdul Malik ibn Al-Hasan bin Yusuf Al-Muaddal reported to us, saying: Ahmad bin Abi Awf informed us, saying: “I heard my father and uncle saying: “We were in a gathering with Yazid bin Harun in the garden of Umm Ja’far when we saw a man with long hair, and a boy was breastfeeding from him. The man said, ‘The mother of this boy gave birth to him and died in a land of meadows, so I placed him on my chest, and Allah provided this sustenance for him.’ We saw milk flowing from his breast.”
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