Question:
Assalamualaikum w.b.t. If a mother breastfeeds her child, does it invalidate ablution?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam wrt. wbt.,
Alhamdulillah, praise and gratitude to Allah SWT for His countless blessings for us all. Praise and salutations to our beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his family, companions, and all those who follow his footsteps until the Final day.
We start with the statement of Allah SWT:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى الْكَعْبَيْنِ
“O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles.” [1]
Al-Maraghi interpreted the meaning of the above verse to be if a person gets up to pray – and still in an impure state (hadas). The reason is all Muslims said that purification (ablution and obligatory bath) is not obligatory for those who want to pray except those who are in an impure state (hadas). [2]
Mukadimah
Ablution in Arabic originates from the word wadha’ah (وَضَاءَةٌ). Lexically, it means perfect and glowing. Whilst, according to syarak it is an act of washing using water on certain parts of the body with intention. It is named as such, for it is an act of perfecting and purifying the body parts washed and cleansed. [3]
Habib Hasan bin Ahmad al-Kaff stated there are six requisites of ablution. Four of them according to the verse of the Quran is washing the face, both hands, wipe a part of the head and wash both feet. While the two remaining requisites according to sunnah are intention and following the order. [4]
Matters that invalidate ablution
In al-Fiqh al-Manhaji [5] it is stated that five matters invalidate ablution which are:
- Secretion of anything from the anus, vagina or penis such as urine, excrement, blood, gas and others.
- Unfixed sleep. The meaning of ‘fixed’ here is sitting still where one’s bottom is tightly pressed on the floor while the meaning of unfixes is when there is space between one’s bottom and the floor.
- Lose of rationality whether it is due to drunkenness, fainted, sick or insanity.
- A man touching a woman or another non-mahram woman without any layers in between (physical contact) invalidates the ablution of both of them. The meaning of another woman is a woman who is permissible for him to marry.
- Touching the private parts of a human being, whether it is his own or another person, whether it is the anus, vagina or penis with one’s palms and fingers without any layer in between.
Moreover, it is also explained that secretion of anything from the anus, vagina or penis that is not najis, is not considered as an invalidator of ablution according to the agreement of scholars. [6]
Conclusion
According to the above discussion and arguments, we conclude that nursing a child is not included as a matter that invalidates ablution.
May Allah SWT grants us a clear understanding of religion. Amin.
Wallahu a’lam.
[2] See Tafsir al-Maraghi, 6/61.
[3] See al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, 1/53.
[4] See al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah, pg. 82.
[5] See al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, 1/62-63.
[6] See al-Mausu‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, 17/113.