When she reached the weaning stage...

When she reached the weaning stage, an Angel would put his hand on the arm of the mother and say, start your life afresh that your past sins have been pardoned! [1] At a seminar in the University of Shiraz the experts agreed, to the last person, that any other food or combination of vitamins cannot be a substitute of the mothers milk for the newborn child.

Dr Simeen Wakifi says: It is a matter of concern that lots of mothers, blindly following the practice of the Western women, forcing early weaning on their children, give them dehydrated milk powders and other synthetic baby foods. This practice is against the nutritional requirement of the child and is no substitute for the mothers own milk which is superior in every respect.

[2] Another expert writes: The mothers milk is a unique food which nature has provided for the babies and no other feed is substitute for that. Therefore every effort should be made to see that the mother is able to feed the baby on her own milk. If the mother is running dry, she should take extra care of her own nutrition to revive lactation. [3] [1] Wassail as-Shia, Vol. 15, Page 175. [2] Behdasht Jismi Rawafi Kudak, Page 63. [3] Aijaz Khurakia, 258.

The responsible and informed mothers who are interested in the welfare of their children dont deprive them of the bounty that Allah has provided to them. These women know the effect of the milk on the body and mind of the growing child. Therefore they sacrifice their own comfort for the health and welfare of the child.

Only such women deserve to be called mothers and not those ignorant and selfish women who, despite proper lactation, render themselves dry and bring up the children on dried milk powder. The women who do not feed their babies on their own milk might become victims of several physical and psychological ailments. The cancer of the breast is one serious ailment that is prevalent in such women.

It is appropriate here to draw the attention of the mothers who feed babies on their own milk to take special care of their personal diet. The nutrition that the mother takes has a direct bearing on the nutritive value of the milk she produces. The mothers food should be a balanced combination of different fruits, vegetables and grains. Fluid and succulent foods are useful. The mothers should not think that only expensive food could be good food.

They can judiciously plan a balanced food that can be nutritious and not expensive at the same time.