When a Weak Child Should Be Weaned

Question

A child has been ill since the day of his birth and is very weak. He has now reached the age of two and a half years. This child suffers from diarrhoea and is very emaciated. When should he be weaned? Because of the child’s weakness, may he be given his mother’s milk for some time longer or not?

Answer

In case of need there is latitude up to two and a half years; beyond that it is absolutely impermissible. So it is in “Radd al-Muhtar”, vol. 2, p. 624.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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