Abu Huzaifa bin Utba bin Rabia bin Abd Shams had adopted Salim and married him to his niece Hind bint Walid bin Utba bin Rabia. Salim was the freed slave of a woman from the Ansar, just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had adopted Zayd. In the days of ignorance, whoever adopted a man would be called by his name and would inherit from him, until Allah revealed concerning this, "Call them by the names of their fathers... but if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in religion and your freed slaves" [Ahzab 33:5]. So they were attributed back to their fathers, and whoever had no known father was considered a freed slave and a brother in religion.Then Sahla bint Suhayl bin Amr al-Qurashi al-Amiri, the wife of Abu Huzaifa, came and said, "Messenger of Allah, we used to regard Salim as a son. He used to stay with me and Abu Huzaifa in the same house, and he would see me in my ordinary dress. Now Allah
has revealed concerning them what you know. What do you think about him?"The Prophet ﷺ said to her, "Nurse him."So she nursed him five times, and he became like her son through nursing. For this reason, Ayesha
used to instruct her sisters' daughters and her brothers' daughters to nurse, five times, anyone whom she wished to be able to see her and enter upon her, even if he was an adult, after which he could enter upon her.But Umm Salama and the rest of the Prophet's ﷺ wives refused to allow anyone to enter upon them through such nursing unless he had been nursed in the cradle. They said to Ayesha, "By Allah, we do not know, perhaps it was a special dispensation from the Prophet ﷺ for Salim alone, not for the rest of the people."
حدثنا أحمد بن صالح حدثنا عنبسة حدثني يونس عن ابن شهاب حدثني عروة بن الزبير
أن أبا حذيفة بن عتبة بن ربيعة بن عبد شمس كان تبنى سالما وأنكحه ابنة أخيه هند بنت الوليد بن عتبة بن ربيعة وهو مولى لامرأة من الأنصار كما تبنى رسول الله ﷺ زيدا وكان من تبنى رجلا في الجاهلية دعاه الناس إليه وورث ميراثه حتى أنزل الله سبحانه وتعالى في ذلك {ادعوهم لآبائهم} إلى قوله {فإخوانكم في الدين ومواليكم} فردوا إلى آبائهم فمن لم يعلم له أب كان مولى وأخا في الدين فجاءت سهلة بنت سهيل بن عمرو القرشي ثم العامري وهي امرأة أبي حذيفة فقالت يا رسول الله إنا كنا نرى سالما ولدا وكان يأوي معي ومع أبي حذيفة في بيت واحد ويراني فضلا وقد أنزل الله عز وجل فيهم ما قد علمت فكيف ترى فيه فقال لها النبي ﷺ أرضعيه فأرضعته خمس رضعات فكان بمنزلة ولدها من الرضاعة فبذلك كانت عائشة رضي الله عنها تأمر بنات أخواتها وبنات إخوتها أن يرضعن من أحبت عائشة أن يراها ويدخل عليها وإن كان كبيرا خمس رضعات ثم يدخل عليها وأبت أم سلمة وسائر أزواج النبي ﷺ أن يدخلن عليهن بتلك الرضاعة أحدا من الناس حتى يرضع في المهد وقلن لعائشة والله ما ندري لعلها كانت رخصة من النبي ﷺ لسالم دون الناس
Its isnad is sahih. Ibn Abdul-Barr narrated it in Tamhid (8/251) from the hadith of Abu Dawud through this route, and Nasai narrated it, no. 3225. Its basis is found in Bukhari, in the chapter on marriage, "Compatibility in Religion," no. 5088. The hadith has many routes of transmission.