What is required of a mother if her child dies without any fault on her part?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Your Eminence! One of the sisters sent a question saying: I had a child who was six months old. He was struck by the evil eye, then he was ill for a month.
The Shaykh: He was.
The presenter: I had a child who was six months old. He was struck by the evil eye, then he was ill for a month, and his illness increased in the last week. I stayed awake with him all night. One night, I placed him beside me while I was lying on my side, and sleep overtook me. Then I woke up in a panic, and I took my child, only to find that he was in his last breath. Then he surrendered his soul to his Creator. When I woke up, I was on the same side I had been lying on; I had not turned over, and I had not moved from him. After several years, it was said to me: You must fast two consecutive months as expiation for accidental killing. So, is it obligatory for me to fast the two months? And if I am unable to fast due to my advanced age, can I give charity, or do something else? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good. Know that I am now sixty years old.
Answer:
If the reality is as you described, then you owe nothing, and praise be to Allah. No fasting, nor anything else. Because you did not kill him. This was his appointed time. He was ill, and his appointed time came. However, if you knew that you covered him, slept on him, meaning your chest was on him until he died, or you did something that necessitated his death, then you must free a believing slave, a male or female slave. If you are unable to do so, fast two consecutive months, sixty days. But as long as the reality is as you described, you owe nothing. Because you, praise be to Allah, did not kill him. Rather, his appointed time came. So you, by the praise of Allah, owe nothing.
And I ask Allah to magnify your reward for him. And you should not have obsessive doubts. You, praise be to Allah, owe nothing, as long as the reality is as you described. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Your Eminence! One of the sisters sent a question saying: I had a child who was six months old. He was struck by the evil eye, then he was ill for a month.
The Shaykh: He was.
The presenter: I had a child who was six months old. He was struck by the evil eye, then he was ill for a month, and his illness increased in the last week. I stayed awake with him all night. One night, I placed him beside me while I was lying on my side, and sleep overtook me. Then I woke up in a panic, and I took my child, only to find that he was in his last breath. Then he surrendered his soul to his Creator. When I woke up, I was on the same side I had been lying on; I had not turned over, and I had not moved from him. After several years, it was said to me: You must fast two consecutive months as expiation for accidental killing. So, is it obligatory for me to fast the two months? And if I am unable to fast due to my advanced age, can I give charity, or do something else? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good. Know that I am now sixty years old.
Answer:
If the reality is as you described, then you owe nothing, and praise be to Allah. No fasting, nor anything else. Because you did not kill him. This was his appointed time. He was ill, and his appointed time came. However, if you knew that you covered him, slept on him, meaning your chest was on him until he died, or you did something that necessitated his death, then you must free a believing slave, a male or female slave. If you are unable to do so, fast two consecutive months, sixty days. But as long as the reality is as you described, you owe nothing. Because you, praise be to Allah, did not kill him. Rather, his appointed time came. So you, by the praise of Allah, owe nothing.
And I ask Allah to magnify your reward for him. And you should not have obsessive doubts. You, praise be to Allah, owe nothing, as long as the reality is as you described. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.