What is the ruling regarding the liability incurred by someone who strikes a pregnant woman, causing her to miscarry a dead fetus?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
The striker is liable for the 'ghurrah' (a specific compensation) because the aborted fetus is ruled to be free. The rightful inheritors of this compensation are those who would have inherited from the fetus had it been born alive. Furthermore, the striker is obligated to offer the expiation (*kaffarah*) for killing. If the striker is the father of the fetus, he does not inherit the ghurrah; his relatives inherit it instead. This fetus is not to be surrendered to the master because the master is only entitled to the delivery of a living child, and this one is dead.
Supporting text
There is an alternative opinion suggesting that ten percent of the mother's value is due to the master, because the man who engaged in intercourse caused the master to lose this entitlement by believing the fetus to be free; had this belief not existed, the master would have been entitled to it.