Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) once remarked to Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam), “O Rasul of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! Your speech is extremely eloquent!” Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) replied, “Firstly, I am from the Quraish tribe. Moreover, I was suckled amongst the Banu Sa’d tribe.”

According to this custom of the Arabs, the women of Banu Sa’d would make an annual journey to Makkah Mukarramah in search of suckling infants. Hazrat Halimah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) recalls, “A few women from the Banu Sa’d and I set out for Makkah Mukarramah in search of suckling infants. Accompanying me on this journey was my husband and my infant son who was still breastfeeding. As our conveyance, we had an extremely thin donkey and a camel that would not provide even a single drop of milk. We were unable to fall asleep at night due to the hunger. My son’s state was such that he would cry and remain restless the entire night due to hunger, as I did not have sufficient milk to satiate him."

(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/69-70)