AhlulBayt News Agency: Since the first days after birth, human beings need love and care and no one can better convey this love than mother who loves the child with all of her heart and feeds its body and soul.
Islam attaches great significance to ties among family members and the most important member of family is mother, the one who gives birth to the child, feeds it and raises it.
That is why there are many recommendations and instructions about becoming a mother and being a good mother.
Verse 233 of Surah Al-Baqarah, for instance, is about breastfeeding babies: “Mothers will breast feed their babies for two years if the fathers want them to complete this term. The father has to pay them reasonable expenses. No soul is responsible for what is beyond its ability. None of the parents should suffer any loss from the other because of the baby.
The heirs are responsible to look after the children of a deceased. It is no sin for the parents to have a mutual agreement about weaning the baby. There is no sin in hiring a woman to breast feed your children for a reasonable payment. Have fear of God and know that God is well aware of what you do.”
It first says mothers breastfeed their children for two years. So while the father has Wilayat (guardianship) over children, it is the mother who has the right to care for the child in this period.
It is for those who want to complete this term. In other words, mothers have the right to breastfeed the baby for a shorter period in accordance to the conditions of the child.
The father is responsible to pay for the mother’s expenses in this period so that the mother is free of concerns.
The verse then says that if the father dies, those who inherit from him are responsible for paying for the expenses so that the mother can look after the child.
As for weaning the baby, it is up to the father and mother to decide based on the physical and mental conditions of the child.
Sometimes the mother refuses to breastfeed the baby or look after it or she cannot do it for some reason. In that case, the father is allowed to hire someone to feed the child and look after it.
/129
Islam attaches great significance to ties among family members and the most important member of family is mother, the one who gives birth to the child, feeds it and raises it.
That is why there are many recommendations and instructions about becoming a mother and being a good mother.
Verse 233 of Surah Al-Baqarah, for instance, is about breastfeeding babies: “Mothers will breast feed their babies for two years if the fathers want them to complete this term. The father has to pay them reasonable expenses. No soul is responsible for what is beyond its ability. None of the parents should suffer any loss from the other because of the baby.
The heirs are responsible to look after the children of a deceased. It is no sin for the parents to have a mutual agreement about weaning the baby. There is no sin in hiring a woman to breast feed your children for a reasonable payment. Have fear of God and know that God is well aware of what you do.”
It first says mothers breastfeed their children for two years. So while the father has Wilayat (guardianship) over children, it is the mother who has the right to care for the child in this period.
It is for those who want to complete this term. In other words, mothers have the right to breastfeed the baby for a shorter period in accordance to the conditions of the child.
The father is responsible to pay for the mother’s expenses in this period so that the mother is free of concerns.
The verse then says that if the father dies, those who inherit from him are responsible for paying for the expenses so that the mother can look after the child.
As for weaning the baby, it is up to the father and mother to decide based on the physical and mental conditions of the child.
Sometimes the mother refuses to breastfeed the baby or look after it or she cannot do it for some reason. In that case, the father is allowed to hire someone to feed the child and look after it.
/129