Dealing With a Miscarriage and Burying the Fetus

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalamu alaikum,

I have just found out that my baby has no heart beat and I was 9 weeks along. I will have another check up next week to see if the baby’s heart beat is 100% gone, then I will go through a procedure to take the baby out.

When this happens what do I do with the fetus? Do I bury it? If so, where?

Also, I wonder will we as parents be rewarded?

I know I wasn’t suppose to be so upset. I only cried when I first learned that I lost the baby at the doctors office. Am I sinful for crying?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that you are well, insha’Allah.

If the foetus does not have any discernible physical features, it is not named, nor does it require a funeral prayer and formal burial. [`Ala’ al-Din `Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya]

Though, it would be recommended to bury the miscarried foetus if you are reasonably able to as this would be from upholding the honour granted to the human being by Allah, “We have honoured the children of Adam.” [17.70] This can be done in any place as per any local laws and regulations.

Remain steadfastly patient, turn to Allah, and have a good opinion of Him. It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The miscarried child will pester its glorious and mighty Lord for His entering its two parents into the Fire until it is told, ‘O miscarried child that pesters its Lord! Enter your father and mother into Paradise.’ Then it will drag them with its umbilical cord until it makes them enter Paradise.” [Ibn Majah]

See: The Loss of a Child: Seeking & Turning to Allah in Difficult Times and: What is the Legal Status of the Blood from a Woman Who Had a Miscarriage?

Please also see other related answers in the archives at SeekersGuidance.

And Allah alone gives success.

wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani