The Fourth Hadith of Nawawi: Fetal Development and Divine Decree

He [RH] said:

The fourth Hadith: On the authority of Abu Abdur-Rahman Abdullah bin Mas'ud (RA),

who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he is the truthful, the believed, narrated to us:

"Verily, the creation of each one of you is gathered in his mother's womb for forty days,

then he becomes a clot of blood for a like period,

then a lump of flesh for a like period,

then the angel is sent and blows the breath of life into him,

and he is commanded with four matters: to write down his provision, his life span, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed.

By Him besides Whom there is no other god, one of you may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is only a cubit between him and it,

then that which has been written overtakes him, so he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it.

And one of you may do the deeds of the people of the Fire until there is only a cubit between him and it,

then that which has been written overtakes him, so he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.”

Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Yes. In this Hadith, Ibn Mas'ud says: "The Prophet ﷺ narrated to us, and he is the truthful, the believed."

He used this expression because this is of the absolute...

...unseen, which the Prophet ﷺ did not know except by what Allah ﷻ revealed to him.

And his saying: "Then he becomes a clot of blood like that."

What is meant by "al-alaqah" (clot) is the fresh, clotted blood,

and it is called fresh because it is moist, and therefore it is called "alaqah" because it is moist.

His saying: "Then a lump of flesh like that." The lump of flesh is a piece of meat,

called so because it is small, about the size of a mouthful of meat; it is a small piece of meat.

This Hadith is one of the foundations of the religion

regarding a number of rulings. We will take two or three of them.

The first ruling is that this Hadith is a fundamental principle of the religion

regarding the sixth pillar of faith, which is belief in Al-Qada' and Al-Qadar,

as this Hadith indicates two of the four stages of Al-Qadar,

which are the knowledge of Allah ﷻ and His writing [thereof].

For by the knowledge of Allah ﷻ, He knows what was, and what did not happen, how it would be if it were to happen.

So Allah ﷻ knows everything: what was, what will be, and what did not happen, how it would be if it were to happen.

And this is what this Hadith indicates.

Just as this Hadith also indicates the matter of writing,

as writing is of different types: the universal writing.

Allah ﷻ wrote what will exist fifty thousand years before the creation of the heavens and the earth.

And there is a lifetime decree, indicated by the Hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (RA).

And there is an annual decree, in which Allah ﷻ writes what will happen each year.

It is said to be on Laylat al-Qadr, or on the night of mid-Sha'ban,

and there are reported Hadiths for both.

There is also a weekly decree, and a daily decree.

The point is that writing is one of the four known stages of Qadar.

Therefore, when a believer believes in Qadar and knows this Hadith,

it becomes a reason for them to increase in obedience.

This is the true faqih. Listen to the words of Imam Ahmad (RH) regarding this Hadith,

meaning the Hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (RA). He said: "This Hadith

should be the strongest motivation to increase in good deeds,"

For you do not know whether you are among the people of happiness or the people of misery,

and you continue in your deeds until the time of death.

This is what some scholars, like Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (RH), wrote about regarding steadfastness at death.

The second issue related to this Hadith is that it explains that the stages of human creation are:

a nutfah, then an 'alaqah, then a mudghah.

As for the nutfah, generally, no rulings apply to it.

But if it is a clinging clot ('alaqah)—meaning it has completed eighty days—

then it has begun to take shape, as it exits the stage of [mere] flesh,

and consequently, certain rulings apply to it.

Among these rulings is that if a woman miscarries a fetus that is over eighty days old,

then in this case, the blood that comes out of her is nifas,

and if she was in mourning, i.e., in 'iddah due to her husband's death,

then her mourning ends, and her 'iddah ends if she was divorced.

The criterion is 81 days, based on this Hadith—the well-known view of the madhhab.

The second narration holds the criterion is the formation of features,

as some wordings of this Hadith in al-Bayhaqi state

that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Then it becomes a clot in like manner,"

with 'in' denoting a time frame.

And the fetus may form features before the completion of eighty days, after about sixty-four days.

Accordingly, if the woman sees the formation of features,

or the midwives see the formation of features in the fetus,

even if it has not reached eighty days but has passed forty,

then the two previous rulings apply.

The second ruling regarding its completion of 120 days:

If it completes 120 days and is miscarried dead,

it is washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried in Muslim graveyards.

This is what relates to the difference between what has passed 80 days and what has passed 120.

May Allah ﷻ reward you all.