I heard a child crying and her family was asleep, so she did not wake them for her, and when they woke up they found that she had died. Does she owe an expiation?
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Fatwa number ( 21002 )
Q: We inform your Eminence that I and one of my relatives used to live in
the same house about twenty years ago, and he had a daughter who was (4 months) old. One day, late at night, my wife heard the daughter crying intermittently, so she assumed that her family was awake. In the morning, they found the daughter deceased. My wife then washed her and shrouded her with the help of one of the group when they looked for someone to wash her and found no one. At that time, my wife was in the post-natal period and had not yet become ritually pure. The question: Does anything befall my wife when she heard the daughter crying and did not wake her family at the time? And does anything also befall her when she washed her while in the post-natal period ? And what befalls her family, her father and her mother? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with the best reward.
A: The act performed by the woman mentioned, washing the dead child, is a good deed, for which she will be rewarded, if Allah wills. Her being in the post-natal period has no effect on this act. Nothing is required of the child's parents if they did not cause her death. Likewise, nothing is required of the one who heard her crying while assuming that her family was awake and did not wake them, due to her lack of negligence. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: We inform your Eminence that I and one of my relatives used to live in
the same house about twenty years ago, and he had a daughter who was (4 months) old. One day, late at night, my wife heard the daughter crying intermittently, so she assumed that her family was awake. In the morning, they found the daughter deceased. My wife then washed her and shrouded her with the help of one of the group when they looked for someone to wash her and found no one. At that time, my wife was in the post-natal period and had not yet become ritually pure. The question: Does anything befall my wife when she heard the daughter crying and did not wake her family at the time? And does anything also befall her when she washed her while in the post-natal period ? And what befalls her family, her father and her mother? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with the best reward.
A: The act performed by the woman mentioned, washing the dead child, is a good deed, for which she will be rewarded, if Allah wills. Her being in the post-natal period has no effect on this act. Nothing is required of the child's parents if they did not cause her death. Likewise, nothing is required of the one who heard her crying while assuming that her family was awake and did not wake them, due to her lack of negligence. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.