HUMAN MILK BANKS IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES: RELIGIOUS CHALLENGES AND JURISPRUDENTIAL DEBATES

Abstract

Human Milk Banks (HMBs) are important health centers that isolate, screen, pasteurize and provide access to donor human milk (DHM) for infants when maternal milk is not available, particularly for the most vulnerable population groups: premature and sick newborns. Although WHO and several associations on pediatrics have introduced DHM as the appropriate substitute of maternal milk, establishment of HMBs is still a challenge with fundamental religious and jurisprudential discussions in Muslim communities. At the core of these worries lies the Islamic concept of Raḍāʿa (milk kinship), which can create durably non-marriageable relations (mahram status) between the biological children of the donor and the non-biological recipient child. Milk relationships must be identified under Islamic law, posing a more complex challenge to contemporary milk banking practices which tend to pool or anonymize donors. This article interrogates the biomedical justification for HMBs, the range of scholarly positions from within Islamic legal schools of thought, and illustrative examples from religious and public health practices in both majority Muslim and diaspora contexts. It also outlines policy options—like traceable donor–recipient registries, tailored allocation schemes, and communal fatwa formation—that can balance public health interests with Shariah demands. The study provides a framework for ethically grounded, culturally appropriate HMB operations in a Muslim context by combining clinical evidence with religious jurisprudence. Keywords: Human milk banks, donor human milk, Islamic law, raḍāʿa, milk kinship, Shariah compliance, neonatal health, Muslim societies, jurisprudential debates, bioethics.