Non Zabiha Baby Food: Is it allowed? And some sunnas of raising children

We are expecting our first child…since we don't eat non-zabiha meat how do we go about feeding our child baby food that contains non-zabiha meat knowing the fact that a growing child needs protein?

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

It is not permitted to give children baby food that contains non-zabiha meat. This is another application of the essential principle that,

“Anything impermissible to consume is impermissible to give to others.”

The alternatives are many:

http://myfreshbaby.com/healthy_eating/benefits.cfm 

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/infant/homemade_baby_food.html 

http://www.healthy-baby-food.com/5_reasons.htm 

It is much healthier, and more wholesome (at both physical and spiritual levels) to prepare the child’s food at home.

There are many healthy non-meat baby foods in the market that will give balanced nutrition to the child—there simply is no worldly reason to even consider feeding the child the haram.

As an aside, it is from the sunna to take the best of means in everything. In regards to raising children, this would include:

a) reading good literature on raising and educating children—both in religious and worldly terms;

b) seeking the advice of those whose advice is worth seeking; and

c) supplicating to Allah daily, ideally with every prayer, that Allah grant one righteous children.

Two good duas for righteous children are:

“Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders of the righteous” (25:74)

“My Lord! Grant me (offspring) from the righteous” (37:100)

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani