Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
There is nothing wrong with a Muslim woman breastfeeding a Christian child or a Christian woman breastfeeding a Muslim Child.
In his regard Shaikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Muslim lecturer and author, states:
It is permissible for a Muslim woman to breastfeed a Christian child and it is permissible for a Christian woman to breastfeed a Muslim child. This is because the basic principle is that it is permitted, and there is no evidence to the contrary. This is a form of kind treatment and Allah has decreed kind treatment in all things.
It is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “In every living being there is a reward.” (Al-Bukhari)
If breastfeeding takes place, then the Islamic ruling on each of them is not altered because of the breastfeeding. Whoever was a Muslim before breastfeeding remains a Muslim afterwards and whoever was a Christian before breastfeeding likewise remains a Christian.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.