[Q 650] Breastfeeding Period for Premature Baby

QUESTION:

When the two lunar years are completely from when a premature daughter was born does breastfeeding that daughter need to be stopped at the two year mark of she was born or the time she would have been born? As her being premature affected her development

ANSWER:

In the situation mentioned, the period of breastfeeding is to be calculated from the actual date of the child’s birth, not from the date on which she would ordinarily have been expected to be born. This is because the sacred Shari‘ah (Islamic law) has linked the period of breastfeeding to the child’s actual birth and not to the estimated duration of pregnancy or the expected date of birth.
Therefore, even if the child was born prematurely, the two lunar years are to be completed from the time of her actual birth.

Answered by: Hafiz Jahanzaib (Ask Mufti Scholar)
Translated Answer
Date: 12th June 2026.