Life before birth

27-10-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Were humans alive before they were born?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. It could be said that the fetus is alive in its mother's womb as soon as life is insufflated into it. In the Hadith reported by Muslim and others from Ibn Massoud who said: The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) once talked to us and he is the truthful and the most honest person, he said: Each one of you collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, and then turns into a clot for an equal period (of forty days) and turns into a piece of flesh for a similar period (of forty days) and then Allah sends an Angel and orders him to write four things, i.e., his provision, his age, and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed (in the Hereafter). Then the soul is breathed into him. So, life is insufflated into the fetus when it reaches the stage of Mudgha (a piece of flesh/its first two months). This soul is insufflated into the fetus until the person dies as predestinated by Allah. The person might die while in the womb or after a long life. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {How can ye reject the faith in Allah? - Seeing that ye were without life, ….}[2:28]. Allah also Says (interpretation of meaning): {It is He Who gave you life, will cause you to die, and will again give you life: truly man is a most ungrateful creature!}[22:66]. Allah knows best.