Position of Islam on birth of life

Sources

• ✓ 35:11 · Faatir

  35:11 · Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

  وَٱللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍۢ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍۢ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًۭا ۚ وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍۢ وَلَا يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِۦٓ إِلَّا فِى كِتَٰبٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌۭ

  Allah created you from dust, then from a little fluid, then He made you pairs (the male and female). No female beareth or bringeth forth save with His knowledge. And no-one groweth old who groweth old, nor is aught lessened of his life, but it is recorded in a Book, Lo! that is easy for Allah.

• ✓ 2:28 · Al-Baqara

  2:28 · Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

  كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَٰتًۭا فَأَحْيَٰكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

  How disbelieve ye in Allah when ye were dead and He gave life to you! Then He will give you death, then life again, and then unto Him ye will return.

• ✓ Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 2:28

  Sunni

  Tafsir Ibn Kathir · 2:28

  In this verse, Allah challenges the disbelievers regarding His existence and power, stating that He is the Creator and Controller over His servants: "How can you disbelieve in Allah?" meaning, how do you deny His existence or worship others besides Him? The verse continues: "You were dead, then He gave you life." This signifies that you were non-existent, then He brought you into existence. Numerous verses affirm this, such as: "Were they created from nothing, or are they the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they have no certainty." (At-Tur 35-36) and "Has there come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing mentioned?" (Al-Insan 1). There are many similar verses on this matter. Sufyan ath-Thawri related from Abu Ishaq, from Abu al-Ahwas, from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), on the verse: "They will say, 'Our Lord, You caused us to die twice, and You gave us life twice.'" (Ghafir 11) that this refers to the verse here in Al-Baqarah: "You were dead, then He gave you life; then He will cause you to die; then He will bring you to life." Ibn Jurayj reported from Ata, from Ibn Abbas that the phrase "You were dead, then He gave you life" means you were dead within the wombs of your ancestors; you had no existence before Allah created you. Then He causes you to die the true death, and then He will resurrect you when He raises you again. He said this resembles the statement: "Our Lord, You caused us to die twice and gave us life twice." Ad-Dahhak related from Ibn Abbas regarding the phrase: "Our Lord, You caused us to die twice and gave us life twice," that you were dust before Allah created you—this counts as one death; then He gave you life by creating you, which is one life; then He causes you to die, so you return to your graves—this is another death; finally, He resurrects you on the Day of Judgment, which is another life. Thus, there are two deaths and two lives, as the verse says: "How can you disbelieve in Allah while you were dead, then He gave you life, then He causes you to die, then He will give you life." This explanation was also transmitted from Al-Suddi in his chain, from Abu Malik and Abu Salih, from Ibn Abbas, and also from Murra, from Ibn Mas'ud, as well as from others among the companions and the early scholars such as Abu al-'Aliyah, Al-Hasan al-Basri, Mujahid, Qatadah, Abu Salih, Ad-Dahhak, and Ata' al-Khurasani. Ath-Thawri narrated from Al-Suddi via Abu Salih that: "He gives you life in the grave, then He causes you to die." Ibn Jarir reports from Yunus, from Ibn Wahb, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Zaid ibn Aslam that Allah initially created them on the back of Adam, then took a covenant from them, then caused them to die, then created them in the wombs, then caused them to die again, and finally gave them life on the Day of Resurrection. This corresponds with the statement: "Our Lord, You caused us to die twice and gave us life twice." These interpretations, which carefully distinguish the states of non-existence, physical life, death, and resurrection, represent the correct understanding, agreed upon by Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, and the majority of the early scholars, consistent with Allah's word: "Say, 'Allah causes you to live, then causes you to die, then gathers you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt.' But most people do not know." (Al-Jathiyah 26) The phrase "You were dead" poetically expresses the state before creation as death, encompassing the absence of sensation and existence, analogous to the use of "dead" in describing idols: "They are dead, not alive," (An-Nahl 21) and the earth being "dead" before Allah gave it life: "And an example for them is the dead earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain..." (Ya-Sin 33).

• ✓ Sahih al-Bukhari 23:111

  Sunni SAHIH

  Sahih al-Bukhari · Book 23, Hadith 111 · Narrated by Abu Huraira

  He said that the funeral prayer is performed for every newborn who dies even if stillborn because they are born on the natural disposition of Islam. If the parents call the child Muslim or the father alone calls him Muslim, even if the mother is not Muslim but the infant cries upon birth. The prayer is not performed for those who did not cry at birth because they were miscarried. Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, 'No child is born except upon the natural disposition, but his parents make him a Jew, or Christian, or Magian—just as an animal gives birth to a perfect offspring; do you see in it any mutilations?' Then Abu Huraira recited the verse: 'So set your face toward the religion, inclining to truth, the fitrah of Allah upon which He created mankind.'