r-d-'

Description

The Arabic root رضع (r-ḍ-ʿ) carries the core meaning of suckling, nursing, or breastfeeding, referring to the act of an infant feeding from its mother's breast or a wet nurse. In the Quranic context, this root appears primarily in legal and social passages that establish regulations around breastfeeding duration, the rights and responsibilities of nursing mothers, foster relationships created through milk kinship (raḍāʿ), and the proper treatment of women who nurse children. The root's usage reflects the Quran's concern with early childhood welfare, family bonds, and the sacred nature of the nursing relationship that creates lifelong familial ties and marriage prohibitions similar to blood relations.