What is the duration of pregnancy?
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The questioner : The questioner says: We read in the book *Kifayat al-Akhyar fi Gha'at al-Ikhtisar* (Sufficiency for the Elect in the Utmost Conciseness) on Shafi'i jurisprudence the following: "The minimum duration of pregnancy is six months, and the maximum is four years, with the most common being nine months. We agreed on the first and third points, but differed on the second, which is that the duration of pregnancy is four years. This is the position of Imam al-Shafi'i and others. We note that Imam al-Shawkani, in his book *al-Sayl al-Jarrar* (The Flowing Stream), did not deny its occurrence and affirmed it, except that Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) refuted it to the utmost degree and dismantled all the narrations mentioned regarding this matter. However, we are eager to hear your fatwa. Please rule for us, may Allah reward you with good."
The Shaykh : What I see in this issue is that the duration of pregnancy has no explicit text in the Shari'ah; rather, the matter is observed from the perspective of actual experience. As stated in the first and third points, it is well-known that women usually carry for nine months, and rarely less than that. This is observed. Yes, and therefore the issue does not refer to a text in the Shari'ah regarding specific limits, because it is not defined. We know that the minimum we observe in some women is not mentioned in the Book or the Prophetic hadith. Likewise, sometimes a woman carries for more than nine months, say one or two months. This is not a subject of disagreement. The subject of disagreement now is with Ibn Hazm the Zahiri, and with those who may be influenced by his opinion: is it possible for a woman to carry for more than nine months or not? This returns to reality, not to the Shari'ah. Reality tells us that many women carry for years. The specification of four years is also not the final limit. Some Moroccans—I do not know if he is Algerian or otherwise—has a special, very valuable thesis on this subject. In this thesis, he refutes the opinion of Ibn Hazm and his fierce attack on those who disagree with him, using actual incidents he reports from some European doctors. These doctors are not concerned with researching this issue from a legal perspective because they have no religion; they research the issue from an experimental, realistic perspective. He mentions from these foreign doctors that the fetus curls up in the belly and womb of the mother due to psychological and physical factors related to the pregnant woman, so the delivery is delayed for years and years. He even narrates incidents where the fetus remains alive in its mother's belly for twenty years. Yes, and this is, as it is said, from the category of Allah breaking the usual course. The custom and general system is nine months, but this does not preclude the occurrence of something different. So, from the legal perspective, there is no defined limit, and from the realistic perspective, reality speaks and there is no harm; there is no limit in it. And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The questioner : This is like the case of a human being who is born with two hands and five fingers; the rare case comes with seven fingers and six fingers...
The Shaykh : He is this, yes.
The Shaykh : What I see in this issue is that the duration of pregnancy has no explicit text in the Shari'ah; rather, the matter is observed from the perspective of actual experience. As stated in the first and third points, it is well-known that women usually carry for nine months, and rarely less than that. This is observed. Yes, and therefore the issue does not refer to a text in the Shari'ah regarding specific limits, because it is not defined. We know that the minimum we observe in some women is not mentioned in the Book or the Prophetic hadith. Likewise, sometimes a woman carries for more than nine months, say one or two months. This is not a subject of disagreement. The subject of disagreement now is with Ibn Hazm the Zahiri, and with those who may be influenced by his opinion: is it possible for a woman to carry for more than nine months or not? This returns to reality, not to the Shari'ah. Reality tells us that many women carry for years. The specification of four years is also not the final limit. Some Moroccans—I do not know if he is Algerian or otherwise—has a special, very valuable thesis on this subject. In this thesis, he refutes the opinion of Ibn Hazm and his fierce attack on those who disagree with him, using actual incidents he reports from some European doctors. These doctors are not concerned with researching this issue from a legal perspective because they have no religion; they research the issue from an experimental, realistic perspective. He mentions from these foreign doctors that the fetus curls up in the belly and womb of the mother due to psychological and physical factors related to the pregnant woman, so the delivery is delayed for years and years. He even narrates incidents where the fetus remains alive in its mother's belly for twenty years. Yes, and this is, as it is said, from the category of Allah breaking the usual course. The custom and general system is nine months, but this does not preclude the occurrence of something different. So, from the legal perspective, there is no defined limit, and from the realistic perspective, reality speaks and there is no harm; there is no limit in it. And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The questioner : This is like the case of a human being who is born with two hands and five fingers; the rare case comes with seven fingers and six fingers...
The Shaykh : He is this, yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.