بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
May Allah bring ease and an increase in Iman, health, and patience to the beloved parents of this fetus. Ameen.
The Five Pillars Cemetary in Livermore no longer has dedicated burial space for a fetus or a child. Parents may, however, choose to purchase a burial spot in the adult section. Please see here to do so.
The California Islamic Cemetery in Lodi and the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetary offer discounted cemetery plots for stillborns and fetuses. Please get in touch with those cemeteries directly for those services.
For guidance on funeral prayer for an unborn/still-born child, please see these articles:
- Hanafi Fiqh: Do I Need to Offer Funeral Prayer and Burial for My Baby Who Will Not Survive?
- Hanafi Fiqh: The Fiqh of Miscarried Fetus | Ustadha Shaista Maqbool
- Shafii Fiqh: Performing the Funeral Prayer for a Stillbirth in the Shāfiʿī Madhhab
If a woman miscarries an embryo that is not yet formed, Islamic funeral rites are not required. In this case, the embryo is wrapped in cloth and buried.
The Janazah prayer is only performed on a baby born who shows some signs of life, e.g., crying, moving, breathing, etc. Other than this, it is not performed.
A fetus is miscarried when some of its parts are discernible, e.g., a finger, nail, hair, etc. (regardless of whether its formation is complete or not): it is named, washed, wrapped in a cloth, and buried. However, the Janazah prayer is not performed.
Though there is no janaza prayer, the parents should wrap and bury the body, though not necessarily necessary, in a cemetery.
Reward For Parents Who Have Lost a Child
Sayyiduna Abu Musa Al Ash’ari (radiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
“When a person’s child passes away, Allah says to the Angels, ‘Have you removed the soul of my servant’s child?’, When the Angels reply in the affirmative, Allah then asks, ‘Have you’ll taken away the soul of the joy of his heart?’. The Angels again reply in the affirmative. Allah then asks, what did my servant have to say? The Angels reply, ‘He praised you and recited Inna Lillahi Wa inna Ilayhi Raji’un. Allah then says, Build for my servant a house in Jannah and call it ‘Baytul Hamd’.”
(Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith: 1021- Declared sound (hasan) by Imam Tirmidhi and Sahih Ibn Hibban; Al Ihsan, Hadith: 2948)
Questions? Please submit your question to our scholars via this form.
To our beloved mother and father: The miscarriage is over, but the pain you have gone through is not forgotten; the baby that left you is still waiting for you. Islam has placed high honors on pregnancy and mothers going through miscarriage. May Allah give you sabr jameel (a beautiful patience). Ameen.
