They breastfeed like those who are waiting, in that it is a report in the meaning of the confirmed command, complete, like His saying: (That is ten complete), because it is something that is tolerated. So you say: I stayed with so-and-so for two years, and you did not complete them. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, read: that the breastfeeding be completed; and it was read as الرِّضاعة with a kasra on the ر. And the breastfeed, and that the breastfeeding be completed, and that the breastfeeding be completed, with the verb raised, likening 'أن' to 'ما' for their kinship in interpretation. If you say: How is the saying لِمَنْ أَرادَ connected to what came before it? I say: It is a clarification for whom the ruling is directed, like His saying: (Here is for you), which is a clarification for the one being addressed. That is, this ruling is for whoever intends to complete the breastfeeding. And from Qatadah: two complete years, then Allah revealed ease and alleviation, saying: لِمَنْ أَرادَ أَنْ يُتِمَّ الرَّضاعَةَ, meaning that reduction is permissible. And from Al-Hasan: This is not a time that cannot be reduced after there is no harm in weaning. It was said: The لام is related to يرضعن, as you say: So-and-so breastfed so-and-so's child, meaning they breastfeed for two years for whoever wants to complete the breastfeeding from the fathers, because the father is obligated to breastfeed the child rather than the mother, and he must take a wet nurse for him unless the mother volunteers to breastfeed him, and she is encouraged to do so and is not compelled. And it is not permissible to hire the mother according to Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him, as long as she is a wife or in the waiting period of a marriage. And according to Al-Shafi'i, it is permissible. Once her waiting period is over, it is permissible by consensus. If you say: Why are the mothers commanded to breastfeed their children? I say: It is either a command in the sense of recommendation, or in the sense of obligation if the child only accepts his mother's breast, or if there is no wet nurse available, or if the father is unable to hire one. It was said: He meant the divorced mothers, and the obligation of maintenance and clothing for the sake of breastfeeding وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ and on the one who is born to him, which is the father. And (لَهُ) is in the nominative case on the subject, like (عَلَيْهِمْ) in: (The ones who have incurred [Allah's] wrath). If you say: Why was it said (الْمَوْلُودِ) for him instead of the father? I say: To know that the mothers only gave birth to them, because the children belong to the fathers, and therefore they are attributed to them and not to the mothers. And it was recited for Al-Ma'mun ibn Al-Rashid: For indeed, the mothers of people are containers... entrusted, and for the fathers are sons. For Al-Ma'mun ibn Al-Rashid when his brother Al-Amin wrote to him reproaching him for ruling without right, and at the end: The son of the woman, how lowly is he. So he responded with that. And it is a reproach: if he brings upon him a defect and accuses him of it. And the ن in the verb is for emphasis. It is narrated: Do not reproach a young man, addressing the feminine, as if he intended to inform his brother. And reproach him: if you criticize him. And reproach is an act of making a claim, meaning do not criticize, and the ن is established after the prohibition as an exception. And العجماء is the one who does not articulate in her speech. And he likened women to containers in which things are deposited, a powerful analogy, or in a declarative manner according to the opinion of Al-Saad in every powerful analogy. And it was narrated: And for the sons are fathers. The meaning is that elevation and lowliness come from the fathers, not from the mothers, because they are like containers for the sons. But this analogy is based on the apparent. Then Al-Ma'mun also wrote in response to his brother: The pen by its extension, and the sword by its edge, and a man by his fortune, not by his father, nor is it found.

So it was upon them to provide for and clothe them when they breastfed their children, like the other mothers. Do you not see that He mentioned it by the name of the father when this meaning was not present? It is His saying, the Exalted: (And fear a Day when no father will avail anything for his child, nor will a child avail anything for his father) which is well-known in its interpretation that neither of them should be burdened with what is beyond their capacity, nor should they cause harm to one another. And it was read (do not burden) with an open 'ta' and (we do not burden) with a 'nun'. And it was read: do not cause harm with the raising of the verb, which can be understood as either the subject or the object, and the original form may be: 'tadarrara' with a kasra, and 'tadarrara' with a fatha. And the reading (do not cause harm) with a fatha was preferred by most of the reciters. And Al-Hasan read it with a kasra as a prohibition, which is also possible for both constructions. This is clarified by the readings: do not cause harm, and do not cause harm, with the jasm and an open first 'ra' and a kasra.

And Abu Ja'far read: do not cause harm, with a sukoon and emphasis, intending to stop. And Al-A'raj read (do not cause harm) with a sukoon and lightening, which is from 'darra' meaning to harm. He intended to stop as Abu Ja'far did, or he may have omitted the damma, so the narrator thought it was a sukoon. And from the scribe of Umar ibn al-Khattab: do not cause harm. The meaning is: a mother should not harm her husband because of her child, by being harsh with him and demanding from him what is not just in terms of provision and clothing, and by occupying his heart with neglect regarding the child, and by saying after the child has become accustomed to her: seek a wet nurse for him, and similar things. And a newborn should not harm his wife because of his child, by withholding from her something that is due to her in terms of provision and clothing, nor should he take it from her while she wants to breastfeed him, nor should he compel her to breastfeed. Likewise, if it is understood as being passive, it is a prohibition against causing her harm from the husband, and against causing her harm by the husband from her because of the child: and it is possible that (tudharra) means to harm, and that the 'ba' is a connection, meaning do not harm a mother with her child, so she does not spoil his nourishment and care, nor neglect what is due to him, nor hand him over to the father after she has become accustomed to him. And the father should not harm him by taking him from her hands or by falling short in his rights so that she falls short in the rights of the child.

If you say: how is it said with her child and with his child? I say: when the woman was prohibited from causing harm, the child was attributed to her to invoke her compassion for him, and that he is not a stranger to her, so it is her right to feel compassion for him. Likewise, the father and upon the heir is an addition to His saying: and upon the one to whom the child belongs is their provision and clothing, and what is between them is an interpretation of the known, interjected between the connected and the connector. So the meaning is: and upon the heir of the one to whom the child belongs is like what is due to him in terms of provision and clothing, meaning if the one to whom the child belongs dies, it is incumbent upon the one who inherits him to take his place in providing for and clothing her under the condition mentioned of what is known and avoiding harm. And it was said: it is the heir of the child who, if the child dies, inherits him. They differed: according to Ibn Abi Layla, everyone who inherits him, and according to Abu Hanifa, only those who are of close kinship to him. And according to Al-Shafi'i, there is no maintenance except for the child. And it was said: it is the heir from his relatives, like the grandfather, brother, nephew, uncle, and cousin. And it was said: the intended heir is the father, which is the child himself, and if his father dies and he inherits him, he must pay for his breastfeeding from his wealth if he has wealth; if he does not have wealth, the mother is compelled to breastfeed him.

And it was said (upon the heir) regarding the remaining of the two parents from His saying: "And make him the heir from us." If they intend weaning based on mutual consent from both of them and consultation, there is no sin upon them in that, whether they increase beyond the two years or decrease, and this is an expansion after the limitation. And it was said: it is at the end of the two years and does not exceed, and they considered their mutual consent in weaning and their consultation: as for the father, there is no discussion about it, and as for the mother, she has more right to the upbringing and she knows the condition of the child better. And it was read (if they intend). 'Istirda'a' is derived from 'arda'a'. It is said: the woman breastfed the child, and she was breastfed by the child, to extend it to two objects, as you say: the need succeeded, and I succeeded him in the need. The meaning is:

That you should hire wet nurses for your children. One of the objects has been omitted due to sufficiency, as you say: 'I succeeded in the need' without mentioning whom you succeeded. The same ruling applies to every two objects when neither of them is a phrase about the first. If you have given the wet nurses what you intended to give them, as His saying: 'When you stand for prayer.' And it has been read: 'What you have given,' from the one who has given to him in kindness when he has done it. From it is His saying: 'Indeed, His promise is certain to come.' That is, it is an object. Shayban narrated from Asim: 'What you have been given,' meaning what Allah has given you and made possible for you in terms of wages. And similarly: 'And spend from what He has made you successors in.' And the act of giving is not a condition for permissibility and validity, rather it is an encouragement towards the preferable. It may also be an impetus for the thing that is given to the wet nurse to be among the best of what it can be, so that she is of good spirit and satisfied. This returns to the rectification of the child's affairs and caution in his matter. Thus, we were commanded to give it to her promptly, hand in hand, as if it were said: 'If you give to them hand in hand, what you have given them is in accordance with what is good.' It is related to your giving. They were commanded to be cheerful in their faces when handing over the wages, speaking with kind words, and pleasing the hearts of the wet nurses as much as possible, so that they are assured of their diligence by eliminating their excuses.