What is the dividing line between a fetus that is not subject to the rulings and a newborn who dies and is subject to all the rulings?
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The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
I would like to ask, Shaykh, and please, let us return to the medical question once more. As obstetricians and gynecologists, we face a problem. You know that, according to the Shari'ah, when a fetus is born fully developed and dies after that, it is shrouded and washed, and if it was alive, it inherits. But if it is a miscarriage, it is not shrouded, no funeral prayer is performed for it, and at the same time, it does not inherit if it is a miscarriage. What is the dividing line for us to say that it is a miscarriage or that it is a fully developed fetus?
The Shaykh : What is the dividing line between what and what?
The questioner : The time dividing line between it being a miscarriage and it being prayed over.
The Shaykh : If it is born and cries out, meaning it makes a sound, then it is the one for whom the rulings of prayer and inheritance and the like apply. But if it falls from its mother's womb dead, then it is the one for whom those rulings do not apply.
The questioner : Even if the pregnancy period ended and it died after birth?
The Shaykh : Did it die when it was born, or in her womb?
The questioner : No, before, in her womb. It completed the nine months!
The Shaykh : And it died in her womb and fell from her womb dead?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : The rulings do not apply to this one, the rulings of washing, the funeral prayer, and inheritance, unless it cries out.
The questioner : What if it died during the birth?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : What if it died during the birth or immediately after birth?
The Shaykh : Did it cry out or not? This is the distinguishing sign.
The questioner : Crying out does not mean life or death.
The Shaykh : How does it not mean that?
The questioner : It means it is possible for children!
The Shaykh : If you say: crying out does not mean life, does that mean not crying out means life?
The questioner : Yes, for example, the heart. It may be alive, having a beating heart and moving organs, but it cannot cry out. With the first aid that we might perform, the child may be resuscitated and cry out, and sometimes, if its condition is very severe, life may end.
The Shaykh : In that case, these are special circumstances. Here, it is obligatory for doctors to combine some of the fiqh with their medicine. You are now describing to me something I do not know. If you know that the Shari'ah ruling is that something indicating its life must appear from it, and you are now answering me by saying that crying out may not always be a sign of life, then is there something that takes its place in some circumstances? If it is found, it has the ruling of crying out. Yes, please, have you finished?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
I would like to ask, Shaykh, and please, let us return to the medical question once more. As obstetricians and gynecologists, we face a problem. You know that, according to the Shari'ah, when a fetus is born fully developed and dies after that, it is shrouded and washed, and if it was alive, it inherits. But if it is a miscarriage, it is not shrouded, no funeral prayer is performed for it, and at the same time, it does not inherit if it is a miscarriage. What is the dividing line for us to say that it is a miscarriage or that it is a fully developed fetus?
The Shaykh : What is the dividing line between what and what?
The questioner : The time dividing line between it being a miscarriage and it being prayed over.
The Shaykh : If it is born and cries out, meaning it makes a sound, then it is the one for whom the rulings of prayer and inheritance and the like apply. But if it falls from its mother's womb dead, then it is the one for whom those rulings do not apply.
The questioner : Even if the pregnancy period ended and it died after birth?
The Shaykh : Did it die when it was born, or in her womb?
The questioner : No, before, in her womb. It completed the nine months!
The Shaykh : And it died in her womb and fell from her womb dead?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : The rulings do not apply to this one, the rulings of washing, the funeral prayer, and inheritance, unless it cries out.
The questioner : What if it died during the birth?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : What if it died during the birth or immediately after birth?
The Shaykh : Did it cry out or not? This is the distinguishing sign.
The questioner : Crying out does not mean life or death.
The Shaykh : How does it not mean that?
The questioner : It means it is possible for children!
The Shaykh : If you say: crying out does not mean life, does that mean not crying out means life?
The questioner : Yes, for example, the heart. It may be alive, having a beating heart and moving organs, but it cannot cry out. With the first aid that we might perform, the child may be resuscitated and cry out, and sometimes, if its condition is very severe, life may end.
The Shaykh : In that case, these are special circumstances. Here, it is obligatory for doctors to combine some of the fiqh with their medicine. You are now describing to me something I do not know. If you know that the Shari'ah ruling is that something indicating its life must appear from it, and you are now answering me by saying that crying out may not always be a sign of life, then is there something that takes its place in some circumstances? If it is found, it has the ruling of crying out. Yes, please, have you finished?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.