The Reference for the Duration of Pregnancy: Between the Opinion of Doctors and the Opinion of Jurists

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A large number of doctors hold that pregnancy cannot remain alive in the womb for more than nine months, and that what the jurists mentioned regarding the possibility of it remaining for four years and being born alive is impossible. The question is: do we accept their opinion because they are the specialists in this field, or is this referred back to the jurists?

Answer:
There is no doubt that the jurists are more knowledgeable than the doctors. These are matters of the Shari'ah; they are not referred to doctors but to the people of knowledge. And it has been found, my brother, that a child remained in its mother's womb for four years. This invalidates the doctors' claim. This is a confirmed fact; so-and-so and so-and-so—name them—were among the scholars, so to speak, even the doctors are not legislators, so that we should take their word? Doctors err more often than they are correct, whereas in the rulings of the Shari'ah, they do not intervene. Yes.