Shariah Compliance Human Milk Sharing Online Application

Abstract

In this era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, everyone relies on the Internet in their daily lives. Recent research shows the blooming of Internet-based milk sharing, i.e. Eats On Feets and Human Milk 4 Human Babies, which are already operating in nearly 40 countries. Both organisations mentioned use Facebook to connect mothers, and practise under a commerce-free model in which milk is not bought and sold, but is freely given. However, Muslim community cannot fully utilize this platform as Islam has several guidelines regarding human milk sharing which is not covered by them. This paper presents a framework for milk sharing online web application that complies with Islamic laws featuring storing donors and recipients data in the database, managing human milk transactions and connecting both parties in the form of ‘Family Tree’ to keep track and avoid confusion regarding mixed lineage. The research methodology base on the (1) urgent need to find a human milk supply, especially for preterm babies, sick infants and those infants that cannot be breastfed, (2) high awareness of mothers who are awarded with surplus human milk to share their milk to the infants in need, and (3) online human milk selling phenomenon that will cause confusion especially among Muslims related to mahram and heredity, their infant’s safety and health issues. As a conclusion, this system is able to provide solutions to all three interrelated issues. The privilege of this system is that it provides the opportunity for infants to enjoy human milk from other women, while at the same time linking the siblings' linkages as outlined by Islamic law.