What is the ruling on embalming a miscarried fetus?

The questioner : Honorable Shaykh, peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.

The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.

The questioner : I was blessed with a child, but he died. Then the doctor took him and placed him in a jar for the purpose of embalming. What is the ruling?

The Shaykh : By Allah, I do not know if he is dead or alive? If this fetus came out after four months had fully passed, it came out alive. Even if it died, it was alive in its mother’s womb and then died. When it reaches this stage, it becomes a respected human being. It is not permissible for the doctor or the physician to embalm it. Rather, it is obligatory to wash it, shroud it, pray over it, and bury it in the Muslim cemeteries. Its family has the right to prevent the doctor and anyone else from embalming it. As for if it is less than that, meaning the soul was not breathed into it, then it is looked at: if there is a public benefit in it, there is no harm in it remaining embalmed so that it can be used in medicine. The important point is that when the soul is breathed into a person, he owns himself and must be treated as a complete human being who was born alive and complete. Just as a dead child, if he dies after being born, the doctor or anyone else cannot take him to embalm him, so it is the same with this miscarriage that fell after four months had completed for it. It appears that this doctor, if the matter is as the questioner said, does not know the matter. Otherwise, if he knew the matter, he would not dare to insult the Muslim after his death, because the Muslim after his death is respected just as he is respected in his life. For this reason, Abu Dawud narrated with a sound chain that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: