A 1:
Life is breathed into a fetus after one hundred and twenty days of pregnancy have passed. Thus, if
a fetus was miscarried before life was breathed into it, it should not be washed and no Janazah Prayer should be offered for it. If it is miscarried after life was breathed into it, it should be given a name, washed and shrouded. Moreover, Janazah Prayer should be offered for it and it should be buried in a Muslim cemetery if it is born of two Muslim parents, or a Muslim father and a Kitabi (Jew or Christian) mother. In addition, two sheep in the case of a male and one sheep in the case of a female, meeting the requirement of an Ud-hiyah (sacrificial animal offered by non-pilgrims), should be offered as `Aqiqah (sacrifice for a newborn) for it. The Sunnah (action following the teachings of the Prophet) for `Aqiqah is to allocate one-third thereof for eating, one-third to be given as gifts and one-third to be given in charity to the poor. It should be slaughtered on the seventh, fourteenth or twenty-first day after childbirth or miscarriage, knowing that it may also be slaughtered on any other day thereafter. Based on the preceding facts, your father is not sinful for what he did regarding miscarriages in which life was not breathed into the embryos. However, he should repent of not washing, shrouding and offering Janazah Prayer for miscarriages in which life was breathed into the fetuses. Moreover, it is Mustahab (desirable) for him to give a name to and offer `Aqiqah for every miscarriage, whether male or female, in which life was breathed, as is stated earlier. (Part No. 7; Page No. 280) May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.