سورة المؤمنون

The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family): Jabir said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: When the child is placed in its mother's womb, (if it is a boy) its face is turned towards its mother's back. ... (After its birth) Allah the Exalted has placed the sustenance of the child in the mother's breast. ... Allah has appointed sustenance for him from the time the mother places the child on the ground; whenever he reaches the age of maturity, he becomes aware of life, wealth, wickedness and greed. Along with all this, the human being is always exposed to destruction and calamity, and illnesses and misfortunes come to him from every side. The angels guide him and direct him towards Allah, while the satans, from another direction, lead him astray and take him off the path, and he is exposed to destruction unless Allah saves him. Allah the Exalted has introduced the human being in the Noble Qur'an and said: وَ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسانَ مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِینٍ* ثُمَّ جَعَلْناهُ نُطْفَةً فِی قَرارٍ مَکِینٍ* ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظاماً فَکَسَوْنَا الْعِظامَ لَحْماً ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْناهُ خَلْقاً آخَرَ فَتَبارَکَ اللهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخالِقِینَ* ثُمَّ إِنَّکُمْ بَعْدَ ذلِکَ لَمَیِّتُونَ* ثُمَّ إِنَّکُمْ یَوْمَ الْقِیامَةِ تُبْعَثُونَ [And We created man from an extract of clay, then We placed him as a drop in a secure resting-place [the womb], then We made the drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump of flesh, and We made the lump into bones, and We clothed the bones with flesh; then We produced it as another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators! Then indeed, after that, you will die. Then indeed, on the Day of Resurrection, you will be raised.] (al-Mu'minun/12–16). Jabir said: I said: 'O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! This is our condition; then what is your condition and the condition of the successors after you regarding birth?' The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) remained silent for a long time in reply to Jabir, and then said: 'O Jabir, you have asked about a great matter, and only those of great fortune can comprehend the answer to this question. The prophets and the successors have been created from the light of the greatness of Allah; the Lord entrusts their light in pure loins and pure wombs, He preserves those lights by means of His angels, and gives them strength with His knowledge and wisdom. Their affair is greater than can be described, and their states are too subtle to be known.'

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): O well-formed creature! And phenomenon guarded in the darknesses of the wombs and placed within veils, one veil upon another! You began from that which was drawn out as an extract of clay; and you were placed in a firm resting-place, for a known term. (al-Mursalat/21–22)

Ali ibn Ibrahim: al-Sulala (extract) is the pure essence of food and drink which becomes the nutfa (drop); the origin of the nutfa is from al-sulala, and al-sulala is the pure essence of food and drink, and food is from clay. This is the meaning of the verse: مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِینٍ [from an extract of clay].

Ibn Abbas: al-Sulala is the thin, refined water from which the child comes.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Abi Umayr narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) who said: "Inheritance is divided into six shares, no more than that." It was asked: "O son of the Messenger of Allah! Why has it been set at six shares?" The Imam said: "Because man was created from six things, as Allah the Exalted has said in the Quran: وَ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسانَ مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِینٍ، ثُمَّ جَعَلْناهُ نُطْفَةً فِی قَرارٍ مَکِینٍ، ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا المُضْغَةَ عِظاماً فَکَسَوْنَا الْعِظامَ لحْماً [And certainly We created man of an extract of clay, then We made him a small seed in a firm resting-place, then We made the seed a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh]."

Ali ibn Ibrahim: Inheritance, corresponding to the creation of man, consists of six shares, because Allah the Mighty and Majestic, according to His wisdom, created man from six parts, and accordingly set inheritance at six shares. This is the meaning of the word of Allah who said: وَ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسانَ مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِینٍ* ثُمَّ جَعَلْناهُ نُطْفَةً فِی قَرارٍ مَکِینٍ [And certainly We created man of an extract of clay, then We made him a small seed in a firm resting-place], so the nutfa itself has a diya (blood-money) — that is, if a foetus that is still a nutfa is miscarried, it has a diya. ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً [Then We made the seed a clot], so the 'alaqa also has a diya. فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً [Then We made the clot a lump of flesh], so the mudgha too has a diya. فَخَلَقْنَا المُضْغَةَ عِظاماً [Then We made the lump of flesh bones], so that too has a diya. فَکَسَوْنَا الْعِظامَ لَحْماً [Then We clothed the bones with flesh], so that has another diya. ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْناهُ خَلْقاً آخَرَ [Then We caused it to grow into another creation], this new creation also has a diya; this concerns the other and new creation.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The foetus has five parts, and in each of those parts a portion of the diya (blood-money) has been set. The diya of the nutfa (seed) is twenty dinars. If a woman is struck and, [as a result of the blow,] miscarries the nutfa before it changes [and becomes an 'alaqa], its diya is twenty dinars. The diya of the 'alaqa (clot) is forty dinars, the diya of the mudgha (lump of flesh) is sixty dinars, the diya of the bone is eighty dinars, and when flesh has been clothed upon the bone and its creation has been completed, its diya is one hundred dinars, and this is the beginning [of its life]. If the spirit has been breathed into it, its diya is the full diya. This is the very word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسانَ مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِینٍ، ثُمَّ جَعَلْناهُ نُطْفَةً فِی قَرارٍ مَکِینٍ، ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا المُضْغَةَ عِظاماً فَکَسَوْنَا الْعِظامَ لحْماً ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْناهُ خَلْقاً آخَرَ فَتَبارَکَ اللهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخالِقِین [And certainly We created man of an extract of clay, then We made him a small seed in a firm resting-place, then We made the seed a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We caused it to grow into another creation — so blessed be Allah, the best of creators].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Ibn Fazzal and Muhammad ibn Isa narrate from Yunus: We presented the Book of Fara'id of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) to Imam Rida (peace be upon him). He said: "It is authentic." Among the matters in it was this: the blood-money (diya) of a fetus is one hundred dinars, and he (peace be upon him) considered the man's semen, until it reaches the stage of a fetus, to pass through five stages. If it is a fetus and the spirit has not yet been breathed into it, the diya is one hundred dinars, for Allah the Mighty and Majestic created man from sulala (an extract), and the sulala is the nutfa (the drop) — this is one stage. Then it turns into an 'alaqa (a clot of blood); now the fetus has reached the second stage. Then comes the stage of the mudgha (a lump of flesh), and here the fetus has reached the third stage. After that the bones are formed, and the fetus reaches the fourth stage. In the next stage the bones are clothed with flesh. At this point the five stages are complete and its diya is one hundred dinars. This one-hundred-dinar diya is itself divided into five parts: one-fifth of it (twenty dinars) belongs to the nutfa, two-fifths (forty dinars) to the 'alaqa, three-fifths (sixty dinars) to the mudgha, four-fifths (eighty dinars) to the bones, and when the flesh clothes the bone the diya reaches the full one hundred dinars. When the spirit is breathed into it, if the child is a boy the diya increases to one thousand dinars, and if the child is a girl the diya is five hundred dinars. If a pregnant woman is killed in whom the spirit has been breathed into her fetus, and that fetus has not been miscarried, and it is not known whether the fetus is a boy or a girl, and it is not known whether it died after its mother or before her, in that case the diya of that fetus is half the diya of a boy and half the diya of a girl. And the diya of the mother is the full diya of a woman. And these were six parts of [the rulings concerning the diya of] the fetus.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) gave a ruling concerning a man who struck his pregnant wife and, as a result, she miscarried an 'alaqa. He said: "He must give forty dinars as diya," and he recited these verses: وَ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسانَ مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِینٍ، ثُمَّ جَعَلْناهُ نُطْفَةً فِی قَرارٍ مَکِینٍ، ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظاماً فَکَسَوْنَا الْعِظامَ لَحْماً ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْناهُ خَلْقاً آخَرَ فَتَبارَکَ اللهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخالِقِین [And certainly We created man of an extract of clay, then We made him a small seed in a firm resting-place, then We made the seed a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We caused it to grow into another creation; so blessed be Allah, the best of creators]. [Then] he said: "For the nutfa [when it is miscarried] twenty dinars, for the 'alaqa forty dinars, for the mudgha sixty dinars, for the bone [before it becomes firm] eighty dinars, for the form without spirit one hundred dinars, and with the spirit one thousand dinars must be given as diya."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib said: I asked Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) about a man: "If a man kicks a pregnant woman and the child is dropped and dies, what is the ruling?" He said: "If it is a nutfa (drop of fluid), twenty dinars [as diya (blood-money)] are due upon him." I said: "What is the limit of the nutfa?" He said: "From the time the nutfa settles in the womb up to forty days, it is counted as nutfa; and if she drops an 'alaqa (clot), forty dinars are due upon him." I said: "What is the limit of the 'alaqa?" He said: "Up to eighty days after the nutfa enters [it becomes 'alaqa]; and if she drops a mudgha (lump of flesh), sixty dinars are due upon him [as diya]." I said: "What is the limit of the mudgha?" He said: "Up to one hundred and twenty days [while it is in the womb, it is considered mudgha]; and if she drops a child with its full creation, with bones, flesh and well-arranged limbs, that has taken life and into which the spirit of intellect has been breathed, one complete diya is due upon him [as the required blood-money]."

Ali ibn Ibrahim: [The stages of the fetus's growth] are six phases, and in each phase there is a transformation, and [at each stage] there is a defined diya (blood-money). For the nutfa (drop of fluid), twenty dinars; for the 'alaqa (clot), forty dinars; for the mudgha (lump of flesh), sixty dinars; for the bone, eighty dinars; and when it has been clothed in flesh, one hundred dinars — until [it comes into the world and cries and] cries out; and when it has cried out, its diya becomes complete.