What is the ruling on a Muslim woman breastfeeding a non-Muslim child or a child from the People of the Book, whether in a case of necessity or not?
The difference in religion between a nursing mother and an infant does not prohibit nursing or being nursed, nor does it prevent the spread of sacred kinship (ḥurmah) between them. However, jurists have disliked a Muslim child being nursed by a non-Muslim woman (kāfirah) due to the religious, physical, and moral concerns it poses for the Muslim infant. As for a non-Muslim child being nursed by a Muslim woman, it is permissible, and it is hoped that it will have a positive effect on the child. Therefore, it is permissible for a Muslim woman to nurse a non-Muslim child, whether by choice or necessity, while it is disliked for a Muslim child to be nursed by a non-Muslim woman by choice, though it is permissible out of need and necessity.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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