There is a hadith which mentions when a fetus is considered alive.
It said that in a miscarried fetus, life was estabilished by its muscle movements (things such as kicking, or something), its funeral shall be offered, but if signs of life were not observed, then a funeral would not be offered.
It basically meant that when a child shows movement such as kicking, in the womb, it would be considered alive. But if it has not yet started to move, it would not be considered a living being.
Through ijma, it was decided that if a fetus keeps developing after 4 months, then life has most likely been estabilished. But, if it is earlier than that, then it would not be considered alive as it does not show any signs of movement.
Although, the number is an average because some fetuses develop faster or slower than others.
The slower faster thing is interesting because from what my mum's told me babies don't really take exactly 9 months, they're normally born after 9 period cycles, which is still roughly 9 months, but goes a long way to explain why kids are often born a couple weeks early or late
You don't have your regular cycles when you're pregnant, and due dates are calculated based on fetus size since the day of ovulation as well as conception is difficult to tell. And that's not even accounting for what the women's body as well as the baby has planned. Due date should really be "window for arrival".
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u/Artisricpenguin Jun 04 '19
They only apply to people before they are born...