Komashisha
Allah, the Almighty, always bestows countless blessings on human beings. Breast milk is a great and indispensable blessing of Allah for newborn babies. Even the best baby food, prepared by using the latest technology, can’t replace this food. A baby doesn’t need any other food during his first five months. It is not only a food, but also a perfect medicine which protects babies from many deadly dieses. It is the most beneficial for babies.
It is proven by Holy Qur’an and Sunnah (Hadith) that breast milk is one of the main rights of the infant. It is also regarded as one of the obligatory duties of the mother to provide the baby with breast milk. There is no difference of opinion among Islamic scholars that it is obligatory for mothers to breastfeed infants for at least a period of two years. Allah says: “Mothers should nurse their children two complete years – for whosoever desires to complete the nursing term.” (Sura Baqarah: Ayat 233).
Prophet (Pbuh) also ordered women to breastfed their children and warned that women who deprive their children from their rights are liable to punishment in the grave and in the life hereafter. Abu Umamah Bahili (Ra.) reported that the Messenger of Allah said that while I was sleeping, two men (angels) came to me, held me by my upper arms, and took me to a rough mountain. They said, ‘Climb.’ I said, ‘I cannot climb it.’ They replied, ‘We will make it easy for you.’ He continued: ‘So I ascended until I reached a high place in the mountain.………’ He continued further: ‘We moved on until I saw some women with snakes biting at their breasts.’ I asked, ‘Who are they?’ He replied, ‘Those are the women who deny their children their milk.’ (Mustadrak Alas Sahihain: 2/228).
It is also proven by scientific and medical research that breastfeeding has great benefits for both the mother and child. Fourteen hundred years after 233th Ayat (verse) of Sura Baqara was revealed, many international organisations including the World Health Organisation have issued statements calling on mothers to breastfeed their children. Research shows that breastfed babies have a better antibody response rate to vaccines than formula-fed babies. Breastfeeding increases psychological and emotional bond between the mother and infant.
Medical researchers all over the world unanimously agreed to the fact that there is no alternative food so far been discovered which is equivalent to the breast milk in terms of its psychological, emotional and nutritional benefits. Breast milk contains sufficient amount of protein, sugar and various nutritional elements in the right amount and format as required by infants and that are essential for their nourishment and protection from diseases. The nourishing contents of breast milk are not fixed rather; they change over time during early life time of the baby. Proteins in cow’s, goat’s and buffalo’s milk are difficult for the child’s stomach to digest.
Breast milk contains a powerful vaccine that protects babies from various kinds of infectious diseases. According to a research conducted by Ruth A. Lawrence, M.D., a professor of the University of Rochester found that breastfeeding reduces the incidences of pneumonia, cold and viral infection in children and it reduces the risk of development of chronic conditions including the type I diabetes and celiac disease.
Some so called modern mothers refuse to breastfeed their children, because they believe that if they breastfed their children they will lose beautiful and attractive body figure. It is completely a wrong perception. Scientists have found that breastfeeding is beneficial for mothers as well and it helps them to stay slim for long time. A group of researchers of Oxford University worked out that for every six months a woman gives her baby breast milk, she loses around 2lb weight depending on her initial weight and height. Researchers also told that women who breastfed their babies even for a few months after the birth are less likely to be obese in 30 years later. The study involving more than 740,000 women provides compelling evidence that breastfeeding helps reverse weight gain and keeps their body weight balanced.
Jubayer Ahmad
The writer is an Islamic thinker and Khatib, Baitush Shafique Mosque, Board Bazar, Gazipur.
