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Mothers and fathers who are Muslim generally hold an aqiqah for their newborn son or daughter by slaughtering livestock as thanksgiving for the birth of the child. What are the provisions and laws for aqikah for a miscarried fetus according to Islam?
Quoting the Fiqh Question and Answer column on the Ministry of Religion's website, the sharia services team provided an explanation regarding the aqikah law for miscarried fetuses. There are also differences of opinion among scholars regarding the issue of aqiqah for miscarried fetuses.
Ibn Hajar in the book Fatawa believes that aqiqah is not obligatory for fetuses that are miscarried before the age of four months (17 weeks) or before they have a clear human form. The reason is that aqiqah is related to the birth of a child who has reached a certain age and has a clear human appearance.
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The Aqeeqah is only performed after a miscarriage into which the soul was breathed.
“Akikah is only performed for aborted babies who have had the spirit breathed on them (which can be known by the presence of signs of life).” (Al-Fatawa al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubra, vol. 4, p. 257).
Ibn Hajar argued that a fetus that miscarries and whose spirit has not been breathed into will not be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, fetuses that abort before the age of four months do not need to be accelerated.
As for what the soul has not been breathed into, it is an inanimate object and will not be resurrected and will not be benefited from in the Hereafter, so no Aqeeqah is prescribed for it other than what the soul has been breathed into, for it is a living thing and will be resurrected. in the Hereafter and will benefit from his intercession.
“As for the fetus that has not had the spirit breathed into it, then it is (like) a dead thing that will not be resurrected and cannot be used in the afterlife. So it is not sunnah to slaughter akiah for it. Unlike a miscarriage baby that has had life breathed into it, it is a living human being that will resurrected later in the afterlife and can benefit from his intercession.”
In contrast to Ibnu Hajar's view, there are also scholars who recommend continuing to carry out the aqiqah in cases of miscarriage, as a form of good deeds. Akikah is considered to be interpreted as a prayer and expression of gratitude for the gift of a child, even though the child has not reached the physical age of birth.
Meanwhile, on the About Islam page, Sheikh Mustafa Umar, President of the Islamic University of California, stated that aqiqah is mandatory if the fetus reaches 120 days of age.
From the views above, it can be concluded that:
If a miscarriage occurs before the breathing of the spirit, namely before the age of four months or 120 days, then aqiqah is not sunnah. If a miscarriage occurs after the breath of the spirit, namely after the age of four months or 120 days, then aqiqah is still sunnah.
Treatment of a miscarried fetus in Islam
Handling of a miscarried fetus in Islam is divided into three, quoted from the book Javanese Islamic Death Rituals by KH Muhammad Sholikhin
If a miscarried baby already has signs of life, for example a voice, and has a clear human form, and then dies, then the law is like the parents. He must be washed, shrouded, prayed and buried. If the baby has a clear human form, but there are no signs of life since birth, it is mandatory to bathe, shroud and bury. But it is not mandatory to pray. If since birth there are no signs of life and it is not clearly shaped as a human being, then there is no obligation whatsoever, it is only sunnah to shroud it (bundle it up), and then plant it.
According to Syaikh Hafizh Ali Syuaisyi' in his book, there is one more provision regarding the handling of miscarried fetuses. If the fetus is still a piece of flesh, then it can simply be buried no matter what.
Provisions of aqikah
The implementation of aqeeqah is still considered a muakkad sunnah, i.e. equal to what is obligatory. This refers to the work of Sayyid Sabiq compiled by Shaykh Sulaiman Ahmad Yahya Al-Faifi.
This provision means that even though the father of a newborn baby is in a situation of economic difficulty, he still has to carry out the aqiqah.
One of the recommendations for the implementation of aqeeqah is based on the hadith of the Prophet SAW which reads as follows:
On the authority of Samurah, may God be pleased with him, that the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “Every boy whose aqeeqah is pledged must be slaughtered for him on the seventh day and he must be shaved. It is called and it was narrated by Ahmad
Meaning: From Samurah RA, the Prophet SAW said, “Every male child is pledged with his aqeeqah. The aqeeqah is slaughtered for him on the 7th day, his hair is shaved, and he is given a name.” (HR Ahmad)
Number of aqikah animals
The number of livestock for this aqiqah is in accordance with the gender of the child being born. Boys are required to slaughter two goats as part of their aqiqah, while girls only have one goat.
This is in accordance with the explanation in the following hadith:
On the authority of Aisha, he said: The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, ordered us to do a sacrifice for the boy with two sheep and for the female slave with one sheep. Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi.
Meaning: Aishah once said, “The Messenger of God ordered us to slaughter two goats of the same size for male children and one goat for female children.” (HR At-Tirmidhi)
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