A newborn who died one hour after birth and was buried without a funeral prayer being performed over him: is it permissible to pray over his grave?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. The brother Bashir Hamid says in his second question: A child was born alive, and after one hour he died, then he was buried, but no one prayed over him except on the second day. A man came and went to the cemetery and prayed over this child. Is this prayer permissible? And what do you advise regarding such a matter?
The Shaykh:
Yes. If a child is born alive, or is delivered after the soul has been breathed into him, and then dies after the soul has been breathed into him, it is obligatory to pray the funeral prayer over him, because he is subject to the rulings concerning the dead. Therefore, burying him without a prayer is a great error. If the funeral prayer is missed before burial, it is performed over the grave, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. This man did well in doing so; may Allah reward him with good. Yes.
The questioner:
Even if a long time has passed, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Up to a month, or as long as it is not the predominant opinion that his body has decomposed and turned into dust. Yes.
May Allah reward you. The brother Bashir Hamid says in his second question: A child was born alive, and after one hour he died, then he was buried, but no one prayed over him except on the second day. A man came and went to the cemetery and prayed over this child. Is this prayer permissible? And what do you advise regarding such a matter?
The Shaykh:
Yes. If a child is born alive, or is delivered after the soul has been breathed into him, and then dies after the soul has been breathed into him, it is obligatory to pray the funeral prayer over him, because he is subject to the rulings concerning the dead. Therefore, burying him without a prayer is a great error. If the funeral prayer is missed before burial, it is performed over the grave, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. This man did well in doing so; may Allah reward him with good. Yes.
The questioner:
Even if a long time has passed, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Up to a month, or as long as it is not the predominant opinion that his body has decomposed and turned into dust. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5235- رضيع توفي بعد ساعة من ولادته ثم دفن دون الصلاة عليه، فهل يصلى على قبره؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.