THE BLOOD OF A MISCARRIAGE

THE BLOOD OF A MISCARRIAGE

(1)       If the foetus has developed any human part, e.g. hand, finger, nail, hair etc., it will be a child in terms of the Shariah. The blood resulting in this miscarriage will be nifaas. Salaat and Saum (fasting) are prohibited in this state and all the ahkaam (rules) regarding a normal nifaas will apply in this case.

     This foetus will be given ghusl, wrapped in a cloth without observing the masnoon kafan method, and buried (dafan) in the normal masnoon way. However, Janaazah Salaat will not be performed.

(2)       If the foetus has not developed any human part, it will then not be a child in terms of the Shariah. In this case there is no ghusl, no kafan and no dafan (normal burial) for it. However, since it is part of the human body, it will merely be buried underground and not discarded as waste as is the practice of the kuffaar.

     In this case the blood resulting from the miscarriage is not nifaas. It may either be haidh or istihaadhah. In order to determine what it is, the following facts have to be established.

(a)       The number of pure days between the last haidh period and the miscarriage.

(b)       The number of days blood of the miscarriage lasts.

If fifteen days of purity or more passed between the last haidh and the miscarriage and the blood of this miscarriage continues for three full days (72 hours) after the miscarriage, then this blood of the miscarriage will be haidh. In this case all rules pertaining to haidh will apply.

     If any one of the above two conditions is absent, the blood of this miscarriage will not be haidh, but will be istihaadhah. All rules pertaining to istihaadhah will now apply. The blood of this miscarriage being istihaadhah will apply in the following:

(1)       The number of pure days between the last haidh and the miscarriage is less than fifteen. It will then be istihaadhah even if the blood continues for three days or more after the miscarriage.

(2)       The number of pure days between the last haidh and the miscarriage is fifteen or more, but the blood after the miscarriage continues for less than three days (i.e. less than 72 hours). The blood will then be istihaadah.

     The blood of this miscarriage will be haidh ONLY if the number of pure days is fifteen or more AND flows for a minimum of three days after the miscarriage.