´It was narrated from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:` “If a child utters a sound (after being born), the funeral prayer should be offered for him and (his relatives) may inherit from him.”
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Maulana Ataullah Sajid
Benefits and Issues:
➊
The mentioned narration has been declared weak in its chain (isnad) by our esteemed researcher.
Whereas other scholars have declared it authentic (sahih).
Two issues are mentioned in this narration:
One is the funeral prayer (salat al-janazah) for a child, which was also mentioned in the previous narration.
And our esteemed researcher has declared that one authentic.
The second issue is regarding the child being an heir.
This issue is also narrated in another narration of Sunan Ibn Majah, number 2751,
which our esteemed researcher has declared hasan in its chain.
Therefore, despite the chain of this narration being weak, it is actionable and authoritative based on other narrations.
For details, see: (al-Sahihah, nos. 152, 153)
➋
A child’s crying at birth is a sign of being born alive.
Therefore, if he dies shortly after being born alive,
his ruling will be the same as one who lived for a long time and then died.
It has already been mentioned in the benefits of the previous hadith
that the funeral prayer will be offered even for a child who is not fully developed.
However, the condition for inheritance is that the child is born alive; that is, a stillborn child will not be an heir.
Therefore, his inheritance will also not be distributed,
even if he was born after his creation was complete.
Source: Commentary on Sunan Ibn Mājah by Mawlānā ‘Atā’ullāh Sājid, Page: 1508