#830: Ruling on Exclusive Breastfeeding

829. QUESTION:

“Assalamu ‘Alaykum. I have a question pls. What is the islamic ruling on exclusive breastfeeding…”

ANSWER:

Wa Alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh. We ask Allāh for guidance and blessing, amīn.

Know, may Allāh bless myself and you, that breastfeeding is very important and pronounced in Islām. The ‘Ulamā are at a consensus that breastfeeding an infant that needs breastfeeding is a right of the child on the parents as long as the child is within the age bracket of breastfeeding (the first two years). They also agreed that the responsibility of breastfeeding is upon the mother if she has no limitations limiting her from that, and the responsibility of the father to finance her and the child during that period, and the father must find for the child a wet nurse in a situation where the mother cannot or will not.

And Allāh said:

وعلى المولود له رزقهن وكسوتهن بالمعروف

“And upon the father is their feeding and clothing in accordance with the norm and what is right”

This is mentioned in Al-Mawsū’atu Al-Fiq’hiyyah

As for exclusive breastfeeding, this is an Advice that medical experts have given, and the World Health Organization recommends that it be the case for a child until he is six months.

The Sharī’ah, to the best of our Ilm has not made that a rule or an obligation, rather, this are of the matters that are encouraged since it has been proven medically that it aids the child’s optimal growth and development. May Allāh bless your heart and soul, amīn.

And Allāh knows best.
Bārakallāhu Fīkum, amīn.

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