Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

Ayah by Ayah

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Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi translation for Surah Al-Qasas — Ayah 12

28:12
۞ وَحَرَّمۡنَا عَلَيۡهِ ٱلۡمَرَاضِعَ مِن قَبۡلُ فَقَالَتۡ هَلۡ أَدُلُّكُمۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَهۡلِ بَيۡتٖ يَكۡفُلُونَهُۥ لَكُمۡ وَهُمۡ لَهُۥ نَٰصِحُونَ ١٢
And We had already forbidden the breasts of the nurses for the child.1 (So seeing the girl) said: "Shall I direct you to the people of a household that will rear him with utter sincerity?"2
Footnotes
  • [1] That is, “The child would not take to any nurse whom the queen would call for suckling him.”
  • [2] This shows that the sister did not go and sit back at home when she found that her brother had reached Pharaoh’s palace, but cleverly hung about the palace to watch every new development. Then, when she found that the child was not taking to any nurse, and the queen was anxious to get a nurse who would suit it, the intelligent girl went straight into the palace, and said, “I can tell you the whereabouts of a nurse, who will bring him up with great affection.” Here it should be borne in mind that in old days the well-to-do and noble families of these countries generally used to entrust their children to nurses for bringing up. We know that in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) nurses from the suburbs also used to visit Makkah from time to time in order to get infants from the well-to-do families for suckling and nursing on rich wages. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself was brought up by Halimah Sadiyah in the desert. The same custom was prevalent in Egypt, that is why the Prophet Moses’ (peace be upon him) sister did not say that she would bring a suitable nurse, but said that she would tell them of a house whose people would take up the responsibility of bringing him up with care and affection.
  • [3] Qira’at: Hamza, Al-Kesa’i and Khalaf read it as: “. . . an evident sorcerer .”
  • [4] The Arabic word used is Muslimoonwhich means those who willingly submit to God, regardless of which prophet they followed.