Q: I would like to ask Your Eminence about miscarried children in the morgue of Tarif hospital.
There are twelve of them; the first has been there since 1406 A.H. And the last has been there since 1416 A.H. The dates of the admission of some of them are unknown. Moreover, there are separate limbs scattered like fingers, hands and the like. I asked the manager of the hospital to tell the governor that those children have been for a long period of time in the morgue of the hospital and their parents did not receive them and that there is no sufficient information to know the addresses of their parents and that there is someone who offers to take their bodies and perform the necessary procedures to bury them, they agreed that I can receive them and wash, shroud, pray for, and bury them. My question is:1- Is it permissible for me to receive them without the knowledge of their parents taking into consideration that it is impossible to know their addresses because the available data of addresses are not enough and the cases have been in the hospital for a very long period of time? (Part No. 7; Page No. 244) 2- As for
the miscarried fetuses which completed four months; they should be washed, shrouded, offered Janazah (Funeral) Prayer for, and buried in the public graveyard of Muslims.
What is the ruling if the miscarried fetus is under this age? Is it permissible to throw it in the dump or in the sewerage system?3- The age of some of those children in the morgue cannot be distinguished as a result of the change of their bodies and colors and the complete atrophy of their bodies, how should we behave in this case?4- Is it permissible to bury two or three of them in one grave, how should it be done?5- What is the ruling on washing, shrouding, offering prayer, and burying the limbs?
A:
1- The manager of the hospital is responsible for taking the necessary procedures of delivering the miscarried fetuses to their parents immediately after miscarriage. It is impermissible to postpone this delivery without a legitimate excuse which entails this delay.2- Those children whose parents' addresses are known must be delivered to them. Those whose parents' addresses are unknown, the management of the hospital or whoever donates to receive them from the morgue should adhere to the following:A- If the miscarried fetus is less than four months of age, it should be wrapped in a piece of cloth and buried in any pit in the public cemetery without being washed or offered Janazah (Funeral) Prayer for, (Part No. 7; Page No. 245) because life was not yet breathed in it.B- If the miscarried fetus is four months of age or more, it is Wajib (obligatory) to wash, enshroud, offer Janazah (Funeral) Prayer for, and bury it. If they are more than one, each should be buried alone in a separate grave like any other dead person.3- As for the separate limbs which were cut off of the dead, they must be washed and inserted into his shroud. If the person whose limbs are separated from them is not present, the limb must be washed, shrouded, offered Janazah (Funeral) Prayer for, and buried in a single grave in the public cemetery because this was the behavior of the Sahabah (Companions) of the Prophet (may Allah be merciful to them all) towards the separate limbs of the dead. A limb which is amputated off from a live person should be buried in a pit in the public cemetery without being washed or offered prayer for.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.
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