Expiation for one who kills his child by accident
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I was in my car, and my two daughters were behind the car. I did not know that they had gotten caught in the car. One of them was seven years old and the other was three years old. I reversed the car, so the little girl fell and died. What is required of me?
I ask Allah to replace her for you and to magnify your reward and the reward of her mother. You must fast two consecutive months, unless you find a slave to free, for that is sufficient. So if you have money that enables you to free a slave, that is the obligatory thing. If you do not have it, then you must fast two consecutive months.
But be careful. If you have children, what has happened has happened by divine decree and destiny. But in the future, if you have children, be extremely careful.
The questioner: But is the fasting necessary?The Shaykh: Who killed her?The questioner: The Lord of the Worlds.
The Shaykh: No, the Lord of the Worlds kills everyone; He gives life and causes death for everyone.But: [Al-Anfal: 17] But my point is that if she had died when she fell, we would say: you owe nothing, because this happened due to her action and you owe nothing. But you ran over her.
The questioner: No, I did not run over her, but there was a thud in the collision, or I do not know how?The Shaykh: Are you not sure that you ran over her?The questioner: No, we did not find any harm in her; we found a thud in her mouth and she fell.
The Shaykh: Look, if this was due to her action, then you owe nothing.
The questioner: Do you mean that I ran over her with the tires?The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: No, I did not run over her.
The Shaykh: Or, for example, when I reversed the car, did I hit her?The questioner: No, I do not know, because we did not find any injuries in her except what was in her mouth.
The Shaykh: Yes, in this case you owe nothing. But even so, I advise you to be cautious. Be careful in the future. If you have children or other people's children, do not reverse the car until you have a person check what is behind you.
In any case, as long as you are in doubt about this matter, you owe nothing.
I ask Allah to replace her for you and to magnify your reward and the reward of her mother. You must fast two consecutive months, unless you find a slave to free, for that is sufficient. So if you have money that enables you to free a slave, that is the obligatory thing. If you do not have it, then you must fast two consecutive months.
But be careful. If you have children, what has happened has happened by divine decree and destiny. But in the future, if you have children, be extremely careful.
The questioner: But is the fasting necessary?The Shaykh: Who killed her?The questioner: The Lord of the Worlds.
The Shaykh: No, the Lord of the Worlds kills everyone; He gives life and causes death for everyone.But:
But it was not you who killed them; rather, it was Allah who killed them
فَلَمْ تَقْتُلُوهُمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ قَتَلَهُمْThe questioner: No, I did not run over her, but there was a thud in the collision, or I do not know how?The Shaykh: Are you not sure that you ran over her?The questioner: No, we did not find any harm in her; we found a thud in her mouth and she fell.
The Shaykh: Look, if this was due to her action, then you owe nothing.
The questioner: Do you mean that I ran over her with the tires?The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: No, I did not run over her.
The Shaykh: Or, for example, when I reversed the car, did I hit her?The questioner: No, I do not know, because we did not find any injuries in her except what was in her mouth.
The Shaykh: Yes, in this case you owe nothing. But even so, I advise you to be cautious. Be careful in the future. If you have children or other people's children, do not reverse the car until you have a person check what is behind you.
In any case, as long as you are in doubt about this matter, you owe nothing.