A Critical Review on the Establishment of Rada'ah Through Blended Milk مختلط دودھ سے رضاعت کے ثبوت اور عدم ثبوت کے متعلق مباحث کا تحقیقی جائزہ

الملخص

In Islamic Sharia, suckling (Rada'ah) is not considered merely a physical act, but rather a sharia-compliant cause of prohibition (Sabab al-Hurmah). Through it, a permanent relationship of maternity (Umoomah) and fraternity (Ukhuwwah) is established, independent of lineage. For this reason, Islamic Sharia has given extraordinary importance to the protection of human society, the family system, and lineage. Among the various objectives of Sharia (Maqasid al-Shariah), the chapter on suckling holds a significant place. It is not just a natural or biological process, but one that gives rise to a legal and sharia-based relationship. As a result of suckling, the same prohibitions are established that arise from blood relations (Nasab), which directly affect marriage, family intermixing, and social relations. The subject of suckling constitutes an independent and detailed chapter in Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), with rulings compiled in the light of the Qur'an, Sunnah, Ijma (consensus), and Qiyas (analogical reasoning). While narrations and jurisprudential rulings exist regarding the forms of suckling during the prophetic era and the times of the Companions and Successors (Tabi'een), the modern era—with milk banks, pumped milk, artificial nutrition, and advanced medical facilities—has made this chapter more complex and research-intensive. Consequently, a fresh scholarly deliberation on this subject has become indispensable. Immediately after birth, the preservation and growth of a child's life are impossible with any food other than milk. Breast milk is the only drink that naturally contains every type of nutrient required for a child's health, and nature instinctively causes milk to be produced in a mother's breasts at such a time. However, sometimes due to illness or compulsion, a woman cannot provide milk to her child, even though milk remains indispensable for the infant. In such situations, the World Health Organization (WHO) devised a solution to establish Human Milk Banks, through which milk is provided to children for whom it is otherwise unavailable. A milk bank, however, contains milk extracted from different women at different times. What impacts does this have—both legally (Shariah) and conventionally (Urfa)—on the upbringing of the child? Is the modern "Human Milk Bank" simply a contemporary form of this ancient jurisprudential issue, or does a fundamental difference exist between the two? This chapter will present a research-based analysis of these questions.