Second: the need of the person entitled to maintenance.
Third: that they share the same religion, except in the case of the bond of manumission.
Fourth: that the provider of maintenance be an heir of the person entitled to it, whether by a fixed share or by agnatic inheritance, except in the direct line of ascent and descent.
It has previously been stated that the sounder view is that the provider of maintenance should be an heir of the person entitled to it, whether by a fixed share, agnatic inheritance, or kinship.
His statement, “And the father is obliged”: the word “upon” denotes obligation. As the scholars of legal theory have said, “upon” apparently indicates obligation, though it is not an explicit, unequivocal expression of it. Thus, if it is said, “It is upon you to do such-and-such,” this means that it is obligatory.
His statement, “to arrange nursing for his child”: the evidence is Allah’s saying: “Then if they suckle your children for you, give them their payment” [al-Talaq 65:6]. Thus, the father is obliged to arrange nursing for his child. The point of evidence in the verse is that Allah attributed their nursing to the father of the child, saying: “Then if they suckle your children for you, give them their payment.” Therefore, they are fulfilling on his behalf an obligation. This is also indicated by the underlying rationale: maintenance of the child is obligatory upon his father: “And upon the father of the child is the mothers’ provision and clothing according to what is acceptable” [al-Baqarah 2:233].
His statement, “for his child,” includes both males and females, because the term “child” includes both.
His statement, “and he must pay the wage”: this is because the wage is part of the children’s maintenance. The evidence for this is that the mother’s milk increases through the nourishment she receives from the provision given to her by the father of the child. The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that he must pay the wage whether the mother remains married to him or has been irrevocably divorced from him. Thus, if the mother asks her husband to pay the wage for nursing the child, even while she is still married to him, then he must pay.