His statement, “and it is recommended on behalf of the fetus,” means that it is recommended to pay the Fitr charity on behalf of the fetus.

The fetus is the child carried in the mother’s womb. It is called janīn because it is concealed; the root letters jīm and nūn fundamentally convey the meaning of hiddenness, from which janīn is derived. Likewise, the jinn are so called because they are hidden. The word jannah also refers to a garden with abundant trees, because it conceals those within it; and from the same root comes junnah, meaning a shield, because one conceals oneself behind it in battle.

The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that it is recommended to pay on behalf of the fetus, whether or not the soul has been breathed into it, due to the generality of his statement, “on behalf of the fetus.”

However, paying on its behalf before the soul has been breathed into it is questionable, for it is not yet a human being. Allah says: “How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He gave you life?” [al-Baqarah 2:28] Thus, it is lifeless and has no life within it. What appears correct to me, therefore, is that if we hold it recommended to pay the Fitr charity on behalf of the fetus, it should only be paid for one into whom the soul has been breathed. The soul is not breathed into it until after four months, based on the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—the truthful one, whose truthfulness was affirmed—told us:

“Each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop of fluid; then he becomes a clinging clot for a similar period; then he becomes a morsel of flesh for a similar period. Then the angel is sent to him and breathes the soul into him, and he is commanded to write four matters: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed.” (3)

For this reason, the scholars said: A miscarried fetus before four months is neither washed nor