Hadith related to miscarriage, and funeral for miscarried fetus
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Question
I pray that you are well, insha'Allah. I hope you can answer a quite of mine. I would like to know whether the hadiths that state a miscarried fetus will advocate on behalf of its parents apply to a fetus that miscarried at the period of 13 weeks (i.e. before 4 months)? And I've read that a janazah cannot be performed, but a burial is required. Is this true?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Kind.
May this find you and your family in the best of health and spirits.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said, "Indeed the miscarried fetus will confront his Lord if He enters his parents into the Fire. So it will be said to him, "O fetus which confronts his Lord! Enter your parents into Paradise." So he will drag them by his [umbilical] cord until he enters them into Paradise." [Ibn Majah]
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said, "By the One in Whose hands is my soul, the miscarried fetus will drag his mother to paradise by his [umbilical] cord if she was patient [with the miscarriage], hoping to be rewarded." [Ahmad]
The narrations are general and therefore we can assume that this applies to any miscarriage, regardless of when it was miscarried, as my teachers pointed out to me. The funeral prayer is only performed on the baby that has shown some sign of life, i.e. if it moved by itself, whimpered, etc. This baby is named, it inherits and is inherited, is washed, prayed over and buried.
The fetus which has developed such that some of its parts are discernable - such as a finger, a nail, hair, etc.- must be buried. [Maraqi al-Falah and Risalah al-Haydh wa al-Nifas]
Wasalaam,
Shaista Maqbool
This answer was published by SunniPath and is preserved as written. Rulings can depend on circumstances; for your own situation, consult a qualified scholar.
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