The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came in to see me while a man was sitting with me. This troubled him deeply, and I saw anger in his face.I said, "Messenger of Allah, he is my brother through breastfeeding."He said, "Be careful about whom you consider your brothers through breastfeeding, for breastfeeding only counts when it is from hunger."
دخل علي رسول الله ﷺ وعندي رجل قاعد، فاشتد ذلك عليه، ورأيت الغضب في وجهه، قالت: فقلت: يا رسول الله، إنه أخي من الرضاعة قالت: فقال: انظرن إخوتكن من الرضاعة، فإنما الرضاعة من المجاعة.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Marriage (5102), and Muslim in the Book of Suckling (1455), through the route of Ashath bin Abu Shatha, from his father, from Masruq. He said, Ayesha said, and he mentioned it, the wording being Muslim's.His saying, "Suckling only counts when it satisfies hunger", means that the suckling which establishes the prohibition of marriage and permits being alone together is when the suckling child is an infant, the milk is his nourishment, and it satisfies his hunger, and this suckling occurs within the first two years of the infant's life, according to the words of Allah Almighty, "Mothers shall suckle their children for two whole years, for those who wish to complete the suckling" [Baqarah 2:233], together with His words, "and his weaning is in two years" [Luqman 31:14]. The hadith of Umm Salama points to this.Abu Shatha is Sulaym bin Aswad Muharibi, the father of Ashath. He related from Masruq Ajda, from Ayesha, and he also related from Ayesha directly without an intermediary, as in the hadith that follows.