Children in Islam are the joy of life and sight of the sore eyes. Islam not only designates rights to children after their birth, but also before their birth as well. After conception, the rights that Allah has prescribed for unborn children in the Islamic Law also take effect before child birth. Allah describes the persons who kill their children, prior or after their birth, as lost, misguided and ignorant. Almighty Allah Says in Quran, “Indeed lost are they who have killed their children, from folly without knowledge and have forbidden that which Allah has provided for them, inventing a lie against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and were not guided.” After birth, a child has the right to be breastfed by his/her mother in a manner that should satisfy the former physically, psychologically and emotionally. The Islamic Shariah insists the mother for fostering, nursing and breastfeeding her newly born child. It would be sinful if she fails in her responsibility towards the suckling of her helpless infant. Such failure brings grave consequences, as stated by the Prophet (SAW), “It is a grave sin for one to neglect a person whom he is responsible for sustaining.” Also it is quite possible that the mother may suffer from an ailment that would prevent her from breastfeeding, or the infant refuses to take her breast or even the mother passes away; in such case the husband has the duty to procure a person to breastfeed his child even if the person has to be paid. If he still fails to do so, then he is supposed to make such alternate arrangements under which the child gets breastfed artificially.
It would be much better to get the child vaccinated that would help it to fight against various diseases beforehand. Neglecting such a responsibility would amount to a grave sin for which the parent is accountable before Allah, the Lord of All Creations.
Quran states that, “The mother shall give suck to their children for two whole years (that is) for those (parents) who desire to complete the term of sucking.” After the child is strong enough and has passed the nursing stage, his or her parents must satisfy the child’s right to be appropriately fed as he or she grows older. It is also the parents’ duty to attend to any medical needs if the child is suffering from illness. Rather, they must take every precaution and protective measure to prevent the child from falling ill. It would be much better to get the child vaccinated that would help it to fight against various diseases beforehand. Neglecting such a responsibility would amount to a grave sin for which the parent is accountable before Allah, the Lord of All Creations.
