The ruling on a woman who slept next to her child and he died

The questioner:
Another woman says: I slept next to my small son, and I rolled over on him while I was sleeping without realizing it. When I woke up, I found him dead. Is there anything required of me? I do not know whether I was the cause or not.

The Shaykh:
If she knows that she was the cause, meaning she woke up and he was under her, or she is certain by other means that she was the cause of his death, then the blood money and the expiation are required. The blood money is on the 'asabah (residuary male heirs) who are financially able, and the expiation is on her, which is freeing a slave. If she cannot find a slave, she fasts for two consecutive months, sixty days. However, if she does not know the cause of his death, does not know that she was the cause, did not wake up with him on her, and did not crush him with anything, then she owes nothing. The default is that the soul is safe, but if she knows that she was the cause, then the expiation is on her, and the blood money is on her financially able relatives if the child's guardians do not forgive it. Yes.

The presenter:
One month? No, two months.

The Shaykh:
The expiation is fasting for two months if freeing a slave is not feasible. Freeing a slave is the obligatory act; if freeing a slave is not feasible, then fasting for two consecutive months. Yes.