سورة البقرة

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): There is no milk better for a nursing child than the milk of his mother.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Suckling a child during those two years is considered nursing (rada'a), and suckling after weaning the nursing child is not considered nursing. Allah said: وَ الْوالِداتُ یُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلادَهُنَّ حَوْلَیْنِ کامِلَیْنِ لِمَنْ أَرادَ أَنْ یُتِمَّ الرَّضاعَةَ [And the mothers should suckle their children for two whole years for him who desires to make complete the time of suckling].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The maintenance of a pregnant divorced woman is to be paid until she delivers her child, and she herself is more entitled to nurse her child for the same amount that another woman would accept for suckling.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When a man divorces a pregnant wife, he must pay her maintenance until she delivers, and when she has given birth to the child, he should give her the wage [for suckling the newborn] without causing her any harm — unless the man finds someone whose wage [for suckling] is less than hers. Then, if the woman is content with that wage, she herself is more entitled [to nurse the child].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hammad ibn Uthman said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: There is no suckling after fitam (weaning the child from milk). I said to him: "May I be your ransom! What is fitam?" He replied: It is the two years that Allah the Mighty and Majestic has mentioned.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) regarding this noble verse: وَ الْوالِداتُ یُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلادَهُنَّ حَوْلَیْنِ کامِلَیْنِ [And the mothers should suckle their children for two whole years]: as long as the child is nursing, the right of custody belongs equally to both spouses; and when he is weaned, the father has more right to his custody and care than the mother. And if the father passes away, the mother has more right to the child's care than all of the father's relatives. And if the father finds someone who will nurse the child for four dirhams, and the child's mother says: "I will not nurse him for less than five dirhams," the father may take the child from the mother; however, it is better for him to leave the child with its mother, for if he does so it is closer to kindness.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): If a man passes away and leaves behind a nursing child, the heir must not cause harm to the nursing child by withholding maintenance; likewise, it is incumbent upon the child's guardian to provide the child's necessary requirements in a fitting manner.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): If the women complete the period of suckling and obey you, then their food and clothing [during this period] is upon you in a fitting manner.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu al-Sabbah al-Kinani said: I asked about لاَ تُضَآرَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِها وَلاَ مَوْلُودٌ لَّه بِوَلَدِه [Neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child], and the Imam replied: "It refers to sexual intercourse." [That is, during pregnancy the foetus may be harmed because of intercourse.]

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu al-Sabbah al-Kinani said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the interpretation of the verse: لاَ تُضَآرَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِها وَلاَ مَوْلُودٌ لَّه بِوَلَدِه [Neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child], and the Imam replied: One of the nursing women would refuse her husband intercourse and would say: "I will not permit you to have intercourse with me, for I fear that I will become pregnant and [because of the preoccupation of pregnancy and the neglect of the nursing child] I will kill this child of mine whom I am suckling." And the man would refuse his wife intercourse and would say: "I fear that if I have intercourse with you [and thereby cause you to neglect the nursing child, it would be] as if I myself killed my child." And so he would keep away from his wife and not have intercourse with her. Thus Allah forbade the woman and the man from causing harm to one another.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A woman among us, when her husband wanted to be intimate with her, would refuse him and say: "I will not allow you to be intimate with me, because I am afraid [that on account of the preoccupation of pregnancy and the neglect of the nursing child] I will cause harm to my child." And the man too would say: "I will not be intimate with you, because I am afraid you will become pregnant and [by this act I would cause you to pay less attention to the nursing child and would do something as though] I killed my child." So Allah the Mighty and Majestic forbade the man from harming the woman and the woman from harming the man.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is not proper for a man to withhold intimacy from his wife who has a nursing child and thereby harm her, saying to her: "I will not approach you, because I fear that you will become pregnant [while you are nursing my child] and kill my child." Likewise it is not permissible for the woman to refuse the man intimacy and say to him: I fear that I will become pregnant [while I am also nursing] and kill my child [due to the weakness or cessation of milk]. These matters are the meaning of the harm caused by the man and the woman to each other in intimacy.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The maintenance of a pregnant divorced woman must be paid until her child is born. And she herself has the greater right to nurse her child for the same fee that another woman would take for nursing. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: لا تُضَارَّ والِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِها وَ لا مَوْلُودٌ لَهُ بِوَلَدِهِ وَ عَلَی الْوارِثِ مِثْلُ ذلِک [Neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child, and a similar duty devolves on the heir].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The heir must not cause harm to a woman whose husband has passed away and who has a child from him. So the heir must not harm her by not paying maintenance to the mother of the child, and make life and livelihood difficult for her.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The heir must not cause harm to the woman (the mother of the child) and say: "I will prevent the child from meeting its mother." And if there is something in the heir's possession that is for their benefit, the heir must not harm that woman's child and make livelihood hard for her.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah forbade that the heir cause harm to the child or to its mother in the matter of suckling, and the woman also must not suckle her child for more than two full years.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): In paying the maintenance to the nursing woman, the ruling of the heir is like the ruling of the father.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The payment of maintenance and the wage for suckling, which was the father's responsibility, becomes obligatory upon his heir in the event of the father's death.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): This [expression] is concerning maintenance.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): And if the father and mother, by mutual consent, wish to wean the child before two years, it is a good act; and fisal in the verse means weaning the child from suckling.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Meaning, if the mother and the heir reach an agreement [regarding the weaning of the child], [the heir] says: "Take the child and go wherever you wish with him."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Do not choose a foolish wet-nurse or a woman with weak eyesight to nurse your child, for milk transmits [such ailments].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Keep your children away from the milk of an immoral woman and an insane woman [and do not choose them as wet-nurses], for milk transmits [these traits].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) ruled concerning a man who had died and, before his death, had chosen a wet-nurse to suckle his nursing infant, that the wet-nurse's wage should be paid from the wealth the child inherits from his father and mother.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Concerning a man who died and left his wife alone with their child. The woman entrusted the child to her servant to suckle him. The woman who had been suckling the child came to the man's executor and demanded a wage for suckling the child. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "The right of that wet-nurse is a wage equal to that of the child's mother. It is not proper for the executor to separate the child from his mother's embrace; rather, he must wait until that child gains the ability to understand [matters], and then hand over the child's wealth [from his father's inheritance] to him."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Fear Allah concerning women and be pious, and give good counsel and instruction regarding them.