Question:

I asked a question about the ruh. Im a bit confused because you said the ruh goes into a baby at 120days which is 4 months then it is considered to be alive. But if baby dies after the 4 months i.e is still birth at 8-9 months the ruh has still gone inside them. So im confused how come the janazah is not done on such a baby as it is considered alive in womb. Please explain.

Answer:

The reason you are finding a problem is you are looking at the issue from a purely logical manner. The Shariah however is based on texts, though certainly there are great wisdoms and secrets behind all its laws, which the Lawgiver (Allah taala) has not always made clear (so that we believe in Islam in faith not because our deficient intellects are made satisfied by the reasons underlying the laws of Allah taala). Obviously this is not the right way of looking at the Shariah for a true servant and slave of Allah taala. Rather a believer should accept all the laws of Allah taala whether he or she can understand them or not, having faith there are always great wisdoms behind them.

The proof from the hadith that a child who is born dead is not to be prayed over is the following hadith:

The companion Jabir (r.a.) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said: "The baby will not be prayed over, nor will it inherit, nor will it be inherited unless it screams." Screaming, mentioned in the hadith is an indication the child is alive when it is born. Thus the scholars say if there is some other sign that it was alive at the time of birth, then also will it be prayed over. This hadith is in Imam Tirmidhis Jaami, Sunnan of Imam Nasai and Hakim's Mustadrak with a good chain.

As can be understood from the above hadith, the Shariah has defined the time when most of the laws of the people living in the World should apply to a person be that they be living in the world. If this is not the case then it has declared that fetus not having full legal capacity. There is much wisdom in this, for example- it makes it clear then that in regard to this child there will be no issue of inheriting from a deceased or being inherited etc.

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.