Is it to be understood from the Hadith that prophetic legislation may be based on ijtihad (independent reasoning) without revelation, and that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, retracted his intention to forbid ghilah (coitus during lactation) based on his observation of the children of the Romans and Persians?

Al-Ghīlah is when a man has intercourse with his breastfeeding wife, or when a woman breastfeeds while pregnant. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, intended to prohibit it out of fear of harm to the infant or the fetus, but he later abandoned this intention after it became clear to him that it does not harm children in the lands of Rome and Persia.

This hadith (definition) is evidence of the permissibility of the Prophet's ijtihad (definition) (independent reasoning) in matters for which no revelation had been sent down. He is infallible, meaning that if he made an ijtihad and erred, he would not be left to persist in his error. Scholars have explained that the reason for the Prophet's intention to prohibit it was the belief among physicians and Arabs regarding the harm of a breastfeeding mother's milk. The Prophet's abandonment of the prohibition is considered an act of gentleness and facilitation for the Ummah.