'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And the mothers may breastfeed their children two complete years for whoever wishes to complete the nursing﴾. ﴿They may breastfeed their children﴾ is a statement whose meaning is an obligation for some of the mothers, and it is a matter of recommendation and choice for some of them. As for the woman who is in the marriage bond, breastfeeding is obligatory upon her, as it has become like a condition, except if she is a noble woman of wealth, then her custom is not to breastfeed, and that is like a condition. If the father dies and there is no wealth for the child, the position of Malik in the Mudawwana is that breastfeeding is obligatory for the mother, unlike the maintenance. In the book of Ibn al-Jallab: his breastfeeding is in the public treasury. And Abd al-Wahhab said: he is among the poor of the Muslims. As for the divorced woman with an irrevocable divorce, there is no breastfeeding upon her, and breastfeeding is upon the husband unless she wishes otherwise. She has more right to it with the wage of the like, this is with the ease of the husband. If he is in need, breastfeeding is not obligatory upon her unless the newborn does not accept anyone else, then she is compelled to breastfeed at that time, and she has the wage of the like in the ease of the husband. And everything that obligates her to breastfeed, if she is afflicted with an excuse that prevents her from it, then the obligation of breastfeeding returns to the father. It has been narrated from Malik that if the father is in need and there is no wealth for the child, then breastfeeding is upon the mother. If she has an excuse and has wealth, then breastfeeding is upon her from her wealth. And this verse is regarding the divorced women, as said by al-Suddi, al-Dahhak, and others. Allah has made it a limit when there is a disagreement between the spouses regarding the duration of breastfeeding. Whoever among them calls for the completion of the two years, then that is for him. The majority of the interpreters said that these two years are for each child. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: it is for the child who remains in the womb for six months. If he remains for seven months, then his breastfeeding is twenty-three months. If he remains for eight months, then his breastfeeding is twenty-two months. If he remains for nine months, then his breastfeeding is twenty-one months. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It seems that this statement is based on His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And his carrying and weaning is thirty months﴾ [Al-Ahqaf: 15], except that that is a ruling on a human in general. The year is called a year due to the frequent changes in it, generally. And their description as 'complete' is because it has been commonly said in a figurative sense: in a year and part of another year is two years, and in a day and part of another day, I walked two days, and I was patient with you in my debt for two days and two months.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿For whoever intends to complete the nursing﴾ is based on the fact that the two years are not obligatory and cannot be exceeded. The seven reciters read: "to complete the nursing" with a dammah on the ya and a nasb on the nursing. Mujahid, Ibn Muhaisin, Humayd, Al-Hasan, and Abu Rija' read: "the nursing is completed" with a fathah on the first ta and a raf' on the nursing, attributing the action to it. Abu Haywah, Ibn Abi Ablah, and Jarud ibn Abi Sabrah read likewise, except that they broke the ra from "the nursing," which is a language like hadarah and hidharah, and others. It was narrated from Mujahid that he read: "the nursing" on the pattern of fa'lah. It was narrated from Ibn Abbas that he read: "to complete the nursing" with a dammah on the ya. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, and a group of scholars derived from this verse that the prohibited nursing, which is equivalent to lineage, is only what occurs within the two years. For when the two years are completed, the nursing is complete, and there is no nursing. It was narrated from Qatadah that he said: This verse includes the obligation of nursing upon the mothers, then it was made easier and lightened by the choice mentioned in His saying: ﴿For whoever intends﴾.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is an innovated saying.

(p-573) His saying, exalted is He:

﴿And upon the one who gives birth is their provision and clothing in a fair manner. No soul is tasked except according to its capacity. A mother should not be harmed by her child, nor should a child be harmed by his parent. And upon the heir is a similar obligation﴾.

"The one who gives birth" is a generic name and a type of men, and the provision in this ruling is sufficient food.

And His saying: "in a fair manner" encompasses the goodness of the quantity of food and the quality of its provision, and the goodness of the request from the woman. Then He clarified that spending is according to the wealth of the husband and her status by His saying: ﴿No soul is tasked except according to its capacity﴾. The majority of people read: "is tasked" with a dammah on the ta, "a soul" in the absence of a named subject. Abu Rija' read: "is tasked" with a fathah on the ta, meaning "a soul is tasked" as the subject. Abu Ashhab narrated from him: "We do not task" with a nun, "a soul" in the nasb. Abu Amr, Ibn Kathir, and Aban, from Asim, read: "A mother should not be harmed" with a raf' on the ra, and this is a statement whose meaning is a command. It is possible that the original form is "A mother should not harm" with a kasrah on the first ra, so "a mother" is a maf'ul whose subject is not named, and "the one who gives birth" is added to this limit in both possibilities. Nafi', Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Asim read: "should not be harmed" with a fathah on the shaddah ra, and this is in the context of prohibition. The original form may be as we mentioned in the first.

And the meaning of the verse - in every reading - is the prohibition against harming the mother by her divorced husband because of her child, and that he should not harm her because of the child, or harm the wet nurse; because the wording of the prohibition encompasses the wet nurse. And Ikrimah said regarding His saying: ﴿A mother should not be harmed﴾ that its meaning is: the wet nurse.

And the ways of harm are not limited, and everything mentioned among them in the tafasir is an example.

(p-574) It has been narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that he read: "Do not cause harm" with the first letter open. And Abu Ja'far ibn al-Qaqa' read: "Do not cause harm" with the first letter silent.

The scholars have differed in the meaning of His saying: ﴿And upon the heir is like that﴾. Qatadah, al-Suddi, al-Hasan, and Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, and others said: It is the heir of the child if he were to die. Some of them said: His heir among the men specifically is obligated to nurse him just as it was obligatory for the father of the child if he were alive. This was also said by Mujahid and 'Ata. Qatadah also said, along with others: It is the heir of the child, whether among men or women, and they are obligated to nurse him according to their shares of inheritance from him. Al-Tabari reported from Abu Hanifah, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan that they said: The heir who is obligated to nurse the newborn is his guardian and heir if he is a relative with whom marriage is prohibited. If he is a cousin or otherwise and is not a relative with whom marriage is prohibited, then nothing is required of him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And in this saying is a ruling. Qabisa ibn Zu'ayb, al-Dhahhak, and Bashir ibn Nasr, the judge of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, said: The heir is the child himself, meaning he is responsible for his own wealth if he inherits from his father to nurse himself. Sufyan, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The heir is the remaining parent of the newborn after the death of the other one of them, and he sees that if the mother is the remaining one, the male relative should share with her in nursing the newborn according to his share of the inheritance.

And those whose sayings have been mentioned have stated that what is meant by His saying, the Exalted: ﴿like that﴾ is provision (p-575) and clothing. This was also mentioned by some of the scholars, including Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utbah ibn Mas'ud, al-Sha'bi, al-Hasan, Ibn Abbas, and others.

Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, in the " , " and all of his companions, and al-Sha'bi as well, and al-Zuhri, and a group of scholars said: Rather, what is meant by His saying: ﴿like that﴾ is that there should be no harm caused, and as for provision and clothing, there is nothing upon him from it.

Ibn al-Qasim narrated from Malik that the verse included that provision and clothing are upon the heir, then that was abrogated.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

So the consensus of the ummah is that the heir should not be harmed, and the disagreement is whether there is provision and clothing upon him or not? And Yahya ibn Ya'mur read: "And upon the heirs is like that" in the plural.

His saying, the Exalted:

﴿But if they both desire weaning by mutual consent from them and consultation, then there is no sin upon either of them. And if you desire to have your children nursed, then there is no sin upon you if you give over what you intend in a good manner. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is Seeing of what you do﴾.

The pronoun in "Arada" refers to the parents, and "Fisal" means: weaning from breastfeeding. Consultation does not take place, nor is agreement permissible except in what does not harm the newborn. If it becomes apparent from his condition that he is independent of milk before the completion of two years, then there is no sin upon the parents in weaning him. This is the meaning of the verse. Mujahid, Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, Sufyan, and others have said this. Ibn Abbas said: There is no sin with mutual agreement in weaning him before and after the two years.

(p-576) Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The correct statement regarding this is that weaning him before the two years is not valid except with their mutual consent, and that there should be no harm to the newborn. As for after the completion of the two years, whoever calls for weaning, that is for him, unless there is harm to the child in that.

And His saying, the Most High: "And if you intend to have him breastfed" is addressed to all people, gathering both fathers and mothers, meaning they have the option to choose a wet nurse with mutual agreement on that.

As for His saying, the Most High: "When you have given" it is specifically addressed to men, except - according to one of the interpretations - in the reading of those who read "Ataytum" and six of the seven read "Ataytum" with elongation. The meaning is: you have given. Ibn Kathir read "Ataytum" meaning what you have come and done, as Zuhair said:

And whatever good they brought, it was inherited by their forefathers before.

Abu Ali said: The meaning is: When you have given what you have brought, whether it is cash or giving or selling, the added noun has been omitted, and the pronoun has taken its place, so the estimation is: what you have brought, then the pronoun has been omitted from the relative clause. The wording can have another meaning - as Qatadah said - which is: When you have given what you have brought from the intention of breastfeeding, meaning the peace of each of the parents and their satisfaction, and that was by mutual agreement between them and with the intention of goodness and the desire for kindness in the matter.

And on this assumption, the address in "Salamtum" includes both men and women. According to the interpretation mentioned by Abu Ali and others, the address is to men, as they are the ones who pay the breastfeeding fee. Abu Ali said: It is possible that "ma" is a verbal noun, meaning when you have given the coming, and the meaning is like the first, but it is sufficient to omit the action from the omission of the added noun, then the pronoun is omitted.

Mujahid said: The meaning is: When you have given to the mothers their fee, according to what they have breastfed until the time of the intention of breastfeeding. Sufyan said: The meaning is: When you have given to the wet nurse, which is the breast, her fee in a good manner.

And the rest of the verse is a command to piety, and a reminder that Allah, the Most High, is All-Seer of every action, and in this is a warning and a caution, meaning it is a recompense according to your actions.