rightfully belonged to someone other than the seller, or who married a woman he believed to be free, only to discover that she was enslaved—the child in such a case is free, even though she is a slave woman owned by someone other than the man who had intercourse with her. This is because he had intercourse with her believing her to be either his own slave woman or his free wife. On this basis, the Companions ruled that the child should be purchased from the slave woman’s master; this is an analogous case. Here, then, he must maintain the pregnant woman just as he must pay the woman who breastfeeds his child. Allah, glorified and exalted be He, knows best.

He—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was asked:

A man divorced his wife three times, and he has a daughter by her who is being breastfed. He has been required to provide maintenance during her waiting period. How long is her waiting period if she does not menstruate because she is breastfeeding?

He answered:

Praise be to Allah. The majority of scholars, including Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, hold that a woman observing her waiting period after an irrevocable, threefold divorce is not entitled to maintenance. Abū Hanīfa, however, holds that she is entitled to maintenance for as long as she remains in her waiting period. If she is a woman who menstruates, she remains in her waiting period until she has had three menstrual periods. Breastfeeding generally delays the return of menstruation.

As for payment for breastfeeding, she is entitled to it by scholarly consensus, as Allah Most High says:

“If they breastfeed for you, give them their payment.”

Maintenance is obligatory only upon a man who has the means; a man without the means is not obliged to provide it.