Q. After having performed her ablutions a mother breast-feeds her baby, should she renew her ablution after she finishes in order to offer her prayers? Does breast-feeding invalidate ablutions?
(Name and address withheld)
A. No it does not. Breast-feeding has no bearing on the validity of the ablution or prayer. What invalidates ablution is a discharge through one’s genitals. Hence, not every physical discharge invalidates ablution. Sweat, saliva, mucous, etc. may be discharged at any time and none of them has any effect on the validity of ablution. The same applies to a woman’s milk with which she feeds her baby.
Mixed education
Q.1. I have always been a teacher. For the last few years I have been running a small education center at my place, in which young children, both boys and girls, are enrolled. We do not take older girls due to several factors. Now I want to expand my center. Could you suggest the best way to do so while observing Islamic regulations.
Q.2. What about a gift given by an air hostess to a man passenger?
N.A. Rizvi, Karachi
A.1. If the school or education center is for young children only, there is nothing wrong with its being co-educational. Yet care should be exercised in order to ensure that the children do not only receive good education, but they are instructed in the best values and practices. As you are aware, children at a young age are very impressionistic. Should they be given the wrong ideas through any means of instruction or observation, they may embark on behavior that could lead to undesirable results.
It is clear that the reader has had no problem as a result of his small school being co-educational. Indeed boys and girls may benefit from being together at nurseries and pre-school establishments. It is when they are on the verge of adolescence that the situation may involve great risks. Therefore, it is in the interest of children, parents, teachers and society as a whole that boys and girls should have their separate schools.
Having said that, I realize that a person in your situation may not be able to organize his school to cater separately for boys and girls. It is better to start with one or the other. If this is not feasible, then strategies should be adopted so as to give the children the proper Islamic values and ensure that they adopt them in their behavior. As for the time of instruction and breaks, there can be a variety of arrangements to ensure the best results.
There may be separate classes, or separate ranks in class, or separate breaks. Whatever the situation, teachers and helpers of the right caliber should be employed so as to ensure that the school is run on proper Islamic lines.
A. 2. I am not quite sure what the reader means by his question. If the air-hostess is giving something that does not belong to her, i.e. the property of the airlines, then certainly the passenger must not take it. If the gift is personal, that is subject to circumstances. Indeed the intention behind it should determine whether the passenger should accept or refuse the gift.
