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Is a mother sinful who locked a room on her 15-year-old son, and inside it was a charcoal brazier, and then found him dead?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman leaving fire unattended in the house is a clear mistake, as it goes against adopting safety precautions. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade leaving fire in the house or sleeping while it is still lit. If it is proven that the child died due to being locked in with the stove and suffocating, then this is considered accidental killing, which entails blood money for his heirs, to be paid by her 'aqilah (male relatives responsible for paying blood money). The mother inherits nothing from it. She is also obliged to offer expiation: freeing a believing slave. If she cannot find one, then she must fast for two consecutive months. If she is unable to fast due to an excuse, then she must feed sixty poor persons. There is no sin upon her as long as she did not intend it, based on the Almighty’s saying: "And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred, but [only for] what your hearts intended," and based on the Prophet’s, peace and blessings be upon him, saying: "Error, forgetfulness, and what they are coerced into have been lifted from my Ummah."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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