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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Children in the Qur’an and Sunnah Chapter 2: The Rights of a Suckling Infant During the period of breastfeeding, an infant has two fundamental rights: 1- Suitable Nutrition According to the recommendations of the great leaders of Islam, the best food for a baby is the mother’s milk. For a suckling child, nothing can be substituted for the mother’s milk. Therefore, one of the rights of a baby is to be breastfed by its mother, if possible.

The Holy Qur’an clearly says that the mothers who are willing to accomplish this duty perfectly must breastfeed their infants for two complete years. According to what is narrated from Imam al-Ridha (a.s), the right of children is that they are breastfed for the minimum of twenty one months, and anything less than that is doing injustice to them. If the baby cannot suckle the mother’s milk due to any reason, the father must choose a worthy wet-nurse to feed the baby.

She must have spiritual and physical exquisiteness, because the milk itself has an effect on the upbringing of the child’s body and soul, and hence narrations have warned against choosing wet-nurses who are deviated in their belief, deeds, and morals, or are suffering from a disease. 2- Respecting the Feelings Another important aspect to be mentioned in the conduct of the Prophet (s.a.w.) in observing the rights of suckling babies is respecting their feelings.

According to a tradition, the messenger of God one day unlike usual, ended his prayers so fast that Muslims thought a new revelation was coming down to him. When they asked him about its reason, they surprisingly heard him say: “Did you not hear the cry of the baby?” It was realized that the reason for shortening of the prayers was the cry of a restless infant who was beside the people and the Prophet (s.a.w.) shortened the prayers so that they could pacify the baby.

It frequently happened that people brought a baby to the Prophet (s.a.w.) in order that he would recite an invocation for him. The Prophet of Allah (s.a.w.) took the baby in his bosom and, when he was busy reciting invocation, the infant polluted the Prophet’s clothes. People wanted to separate the baby from him so that his clothes might not be more polluted, but he (s.a.w.) did not let them do so.