|
233. " and the (divorced) mothers shall suckle their children for two whole
years for him (father) who desires to complete the period of suckling.
it is (incumbent) upon the father to provide (sustenance) and
their clothing (nursing mothers) in a fair manner.
no soul shall have imposed upon it a duty but to the extent of its capacity;
neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child,
nor a father on account of his child, and the same devolves upon the heir.
but if they desire to wean by mutual consent and consultation,
then it is no sin on them. and if you desire to
seek a wet nurse for your children,
it is no sin on you as long as you pay what you promised
for in a fair manner;
and be in awe of allah,
and know that allah sees what you do."
commentary:
in arabic philology the term /walidah/ is used for ` mother ' while
the term /umm/ has a wider meaning and, besides applying the term for
`mother ', its concept sometimes refers to the ` root ' or ` source ' of
everything.
in this verse, the qur'an points to several instructions about the
problem of suckling and the different rights that mother, child, and
father have in this regard. these instructions, on the whole, are seven
various ordinances.
seven instructions upon suckling:
1- the right of nursing the child for two whole years is
specialized to mother, because it is she who can suckle and look after
her child during this time. in view of the fact that the nutrition of the
baby, bodily and spiritually, has a close and firm relation with mother's
milk and affections, although the guardianship of little children has been
given to father, the right of protection and maintenance of a child is
given to mother. on the other hand, maternal affections should be
observed, too, because the mother cannot bear to see that her bosom is
empty from her child and remain silent in such sensitive moments.
therefore, specializing the right of suckling and maintenance of a child
to mother is a kind of mutual right which is helpful for both the
circumstances of the mother and the conditions of her child.
" and the (divorced) mothers shall suckle their children for
two whole years ..."
2- it is not necessary that the duration of suckling to be positively
two years. this two-year-suckling period is for the one who wants to
accomplish it perfectly.
"...for him (father) who desires to complete the period of suckling. ..."
but, regarding to the position of the child's body and observing its
health, the mother has also the right to diminish this course when she
thinks it is favourable.
a tradition from ahlul-bayt (a.s.) says that the whole course of
suckling is two years while its incomplete course is twenty one months.
this idea may be abstructed from gathering the concepts of this verse
and verse 15 from sura al-ahqaf, no. 46, where it says: "...and the
bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; ...". and, we
know that the course of pregnancy is usually nine months. therefore,
the remaining time, which is twenty one months, is the ordinary time of
suckling.
and, also in view of the fact that, in sura al-ahqaf, the matter
has not been cited in a compulsory form, hence, considering the health
of the child, mothers may rightfully diminish the suckling months to less
than 21 months, too.
3- mother's expenses for food and clothing during the suckling
course, even when she is divorced, is upon the baby's father in order
that mother be able to nurse the child conveniently and with a peace of
mind.
"...it is (incumbent) upon the father to provide (sustenance) and
their clothing (nursing mothers) in a fair manner. ..."
here, the qur'anic phrase /almaulud-i-lahu/ (ie. the one for whom
the child is born) which is used instead of applying the term
` father ', attracts the attention. it seems the revelation intends to move
the affections of the father all the more towards the path of doing his
aforementioned duty. that is, if the expenses of the mother and child
during the suckling course has been trusted with father to pay, it is for
the reason that the baby is his own beloved child and is the fruit of his
heart, not a foreigner.
the occurrence of ` in a fair manner ', here, shows that mother's
clothing and food should be given in a scale about the usage and also
appropriate to her position. neither stinginess nor immoderation is
right in this regard.
then, to remove any ambiguity, it explains more about this subject
that the duty of a father is due to his capacity, as allah has assigned no
duty beyond the ability of any individual.
"...no soul shall have imposed upon it a duty but to the
extent of its capacity; ..."
4- neither father nor mother should disregard the fate of their
child because of their own oppositions. this may cause a harm for the
mind and spirit of the child which cannot be compensated later.
"...neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child,
nor a father on account of his child, ..."
men ought to be attentive to the mothers' right of suckling and
protection. they should not tread it by taking the child from them. by
the way, mothers should not abuse the right which is given to them,
either, by restraining suckling through some various vain pretexts, or
deprive the man from visting his child.
5- after the death of the father, his heir should undertake this
duty and provide the necessities of the mother during the time she
nurses the child.
"...and the same devolves upon the heir. ..."
6- the allowance of weaning is given to parents though the
previous verses have defined some limits for suckling the child. parents,
with the agreement of each other, can wean whenever they think it is
suitable for the physical state of the child.
"...but if they desire to wean by mutual consent and consultation,
then it is no sin on them. ..."
that is, if parents counsel and agree to decide to wean, there will
be no problem for them.
in the meanwhile, the mother is not obliged to nurse the baby. so,
whenever she wishes she can stop it, while it is better for her to forsake
some of her own desires for the sake of development of her child and
not let herself lose the cooperation and the due consultation of her
husband alongside this way, so that the mutual consent, pointed in the
verse, actually happens.
7- it is impossible to prevent the mother from nursing her child,
unless mother herself refrains from suckling, or there really comes forth
a barrier for her. hence, it says:
"...and if you desire to seek a wet nurse for your children,
it is no sin on you as long as you pay what you
promised for in a fair manner; ..."
the last part of the above sentence means that engaging another
woman to suckle the child instead of mother, after consultation and
obtaining mutual consent, does not matter. it is, of course, upon
condition that this manner does not cause the mother's right due to the
length of her former suckling to be trodden. this right should be paid
to her in a fair manner.
since disputes and oppositions between man and woman
sometimes awaken the spirit of revengefulness in them, and their fate or
that of their helpless child may be exposed to danger, and each of them
may think of evil planning for the other, at the end of these ordinances,
the qur'an says:
"...and be in awe of allah, and know that allah sees what you do."
* * * *
note:
a thin and delicate explanation is also cited upon this verse which
we narrate exactly here:
the root, ` darara ' meaning harm; in its original form to do harm
(transitive) and in its secondary form ` tadarrar ' meaning to suffer or to
receive harm (intransitive). here the secondary form ` mudarra ' has
been used which usually means mutual give and take, meaning neither
to harm nor to get harmed. as such this passage means that on account
of the child or the disagreement between the parents none of the three
(viz. the father, mother or the child) should be harmful to the other, or
should be harmed by the other. this interpretation covers the various
commentaries given by the different commentators.
the implication of the passage regarding the mutual rights of the
wife and the husband during the period of suckling of their issues, and
the right and the duty of the heir of the husband and the condition for
the permissibility of employment of a wet-nurse for the suckling of the
issue, there are very subtle points for which you may please refer to
`fiqh ', jurisprudent books.
|
