When Is the Soul Blown into the Fetus?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī
❖ Question
When is the soul (rūḥ) blown into the fetus in the mother’s womb?
❖ Answer
The soul is blown into the fetus after four months of pregnancy.
❖ Evidence from Ḥadīth
◈ ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((إن أحدكم يجمع فى بطن أمه أربعين يوما، ثم يكون علقة مثل ذلك، ثم يكون مضغة مثل ذلك، ثم يبعث الله إليه ملكا بأربع كلمات... ثم ينفخ فيه الروح))
“The creation of each one of you is gathered in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop, then he is a clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel to him, who is commanded with four matters: his deeds, his lifespan, his provision, and whether he will be wretched or happy. Then the soul is blown into him.”
— Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3332, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2643
❖ Scholarly Consensus
◈ Imām al-Qurṭubī (d. 671H):
((لم يختلف العلماء أن نفخ الروح فيه يكون بعد مائة وعشرين يوما، وذلك تمام أربعة أشهر ودخوله فى الخامس، كما بيناه بالأحاديث))
“The scholars are unanimously agreed that the soul is blown into the fetus after one hundred and twenty days — that is, at the completion of four months and the beginning of the fifth month, as clarified by the aḥādīth.”
— Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī 8/12; al-Tawḍīḥ by Ibn al-Mulaqqin 5/98
Conclusion
- The soul enters the fetus at 120 days (four months completed, entering the fifth).
- This is established by authentic ḥadīth and agreed upon by the scholars.
