The Death of Children
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question: I had a younger brother who was one year old, and he passed away after drinking some kerosene. His sister had placed it in front of the door without the mother’s knowledge, so the child reached for it and drank it, and he died. And out of the mother’s intense grief for him,She drank from that drink to test: does it affect her as it affected her son, or not? Is there anything required of her for her drinking it? And is there an expiation required of her as a result of her son drinking it, or not?
Answer: First, we direct that children should be cared for, looked after, and kept away from what harms them, so they should not be left in front of or near anything that poses a danger to them.
And as for what was mentioned in the question: Regarding the fact that a container with kerosene was placed and a child drank from it and died as a result, is there anything required of his mother? If his mother was negligent in that she left him near this harmful drink and he drank from it, then an expiation of freeing a slave is required of her if possible. If that is not possible, then she should fast two consecutive months as an expiation for her negligence
regarding this child. However, if she was not negligent, in that she left the child in a distant place and he came and drank from this, then nothing is required of her because she did not act negligently.
As for what was mentioned in the question about the mother drinking from this drink that the child drank and which killed him, to see whether it kills or not?
It is not permissible for her to do that, because it is not permissible for a person to consume something harmful for the sake of experimentation. And I believe she did that out of tenderness and compassion for the child, due to the death of her son from this drink in her heart, so she wanted to lighten her burden and see whether this is harmful or not. But she erred in this, in that she exposed herself to danger,And Allah the Exalted says: [al-Baqarah: 195] , and the decree has been executed, and praise be to Allah, so she should be patient and seek reward, and she should, as we mentioned, if she was careless or negligent, make expiation, and Allah the Exalted knows best.
Answer: First, we direct that children should be cared for, looked after, and kept away from what harms them, so they should not be left in front of or near anything that poses a danger to them.
And as for what was mentioned in the question: Regarding the fact that a container with kerosene was placed and a child drank from it and died as a result, is there anything required of his mother? If his mother was negligent in that she left him near this harmful drink and he drank from it, then an expiation of freeing a slave is required of her if possible. If that is not possible, then she should fast two consecutive months as an expiation for her negligence
regarding this child. However, if she was not negligent, in that she left the child in a distant place and he came and drank from this, then nothing is required of her because she did not act negligently.
As for what was mentioned in the question about the mother drinking from this drink that the child drank and which killed him, to see whether it kills or not?
It is not permissible for her to do that, because it is not permissible for a person to consume something harmful for the sake of experimentation. And I believe she did that out of tenderness and compassion for the child, due to the death of her son from this drink in her heart, so she wanted to lighten her burden and see whether this is harmful or not. But she erred in this, in that she exposed herself to danger,And Allah the Exalted says: