Did Abdul Qadir al-Jilani Breastfeed from Aisha? Refutation
The claim that Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani literally suckled Aisha’s breast is a fabrication forged by late Sufi enthusiasts and exploited by Shiite polemicists, rejected by classical scholars as a dream narrative separated by centuries from both figures.
One of the Nasibi Shiites claimed that the Sunnis say that Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani slept in Aisha’s lap and sucked her breast in front of the Prophet. This Shiite cited as evidence the bookAl-Fath al-Mubin fi ma’alaq ta’thiraq al-muhibbin.
As is the habit of many ignorant Sufis, they invent false stories without evidence and attribute them to Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, who is innocent of them as innocent as a wolf is of the blood of Ibn Yaqub. Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani died in the year 561 AH, meaning he lived in the sixth century AH. As for the Sufi Zahir al-Din al-Qadiri al-Hasani, he seems to have lived recently in the 13th or 14th century AH, since Zahir al-Din al-Qadiri spoke in the introduction to his book about Egyptian printing presses; meaning he is a man who lived in the last centuries close to ours. Thus there are hundreds of years between him and Abdul Qadir al-Jilani. So how did Zahir al-Din obtain this false story?
Classical Scholars Reject Fabrications Attributed to Abdul Qadir al-Jilani
The classical scholars of hadith and history explicitly condemned the false ascriptions to Abdul Qadir al-Jilani and warned against the exaggerations of his later followers.
[!scholar] Ibn Taymiyyah — Majmoo’ al-Fatawa 27/127
There is no doubt that Sheikh Abdul-Qadir did not say this, nor did he command it. Whoever says such a thing about him has lied about him.
Ibn Taymiyyah’s verdict is categorical: the attribution is a lie. This judgment is corroborated by the historian al-Dhahabi, who acknowledged the saint’s genuine stature while rejecting the bulk of miracle stories circulated about him.
[!scholar] al-Dhahabi — Siyar A’lam al-Nubala, Part 20, p. 450
Among the great sheikhs, there is no one who has more states and miracles than Sheikh Abdul Qadir, but many of them are not true, and some of them contain impossible things.
Ibn Kathir, in his universal history, recorded the same pattern of exaggeration among the Sheikh’s devotees.
[!scholar] Ibn Kathir — Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, Part 16, p. 420
He was very ascetic, had good manners and revelations, and his followers and companions wrote articles about him, and they mentioned sayings, actions and revelations about him, most of which were exaggerated.
The Dream Context and the Impossibility of Literal Interpretation
Even if we assume that Zahir al-Din al-Qadri is telling the truth in what he claims, he was merely talking about a dream that Abdul Qadir al-Jilani had; that is, Abdul Qadir al-Jilani was not actually breastfeeding Aisha. Aisha died in the first century AH, while Abdul Qadir al-Jilani was born in 471 AH; that is, there were hundreds of years between them.
And Zahir al-Din himself says in his book: Abdul Qadir al-Jilani said: I saw in a dream that I was in Aisha’s lap.
Then the context of this story suggests that Abdul Qadir al-Jilani saw himself in a dream in the form of a small child being breastfed, not an adult man being breastfed. Therefore, you will find that the story claims that the Prophet said about him that he was “truly our son.”
It is well known that the Qur’an denied that the Prophet had any adult male children. The Holy Qur’an states:
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets. And ever is God, of all things, Knowing.”
Abdul Qadir al-Jilani is indeed crown of the scholars of khalafs and his karamat (which are authentic) are real too, but attributing lies to him is nothing but fighting with a friend of Allah (wali). May God curse those ignorant people who attribute lies to the honourable sheikh.