How can what is stated in Islamic law, that a baby's crying at birth is caused by a prick from Satan and that its organs are formed through the intervention of angels, be reconciled with what modern science says in explaining this?
The prophetic is a revelation from Allah, and it does not contradict any established scientific fact. A child's crying may have more than one cause, including what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us: that the baby's cry upon falling is a twitch from Satan and a poke from him, as narrated in Muslim. Physicians do not know this inner cause. The apparent cause is the baby's departure from the familiar, transitioning from a warm body to cold air and an unfamiliar place.
Just as the recording done by angels does not negate that this occurs through natural causes, similarly, the Angel of Death's seizing of souls does not negate the existence of physical causes for death.
A Muslim must be certain of what is stated in the texts and not imagine that they contradict reality or scientific facts. They should also not believe everything claimed to be scientific facts, as these may merely be research or hypotheses.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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