Is it permissible to perform an autopsy on the fetus that miscarried after five months of pregnancy to determine the cause of death and take future precautions?

The soul is breathed into the fetus after four months. If it is miscarried after that, it is treated with the reverence of a respected life. It is washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried with the Muslims. Dissection is not permissible, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Breaking the bone of a dead person is like breaking it while he is alive."

However, scholars have permitted dissection in specific cases that entail significant benefits, such as: 1. Ascertaining the cause of death in criminal cases. 2. Investigating epidemic diseases.

As for dissection for scientific purposes, dissecting animals or non-inviolable human bodies (those whose killing has been permitted) is sufficient.

Accordingly, dissecting this fetus is not permissible unless the dissection is for a criminal case or an epidemic disease. The obligation is to wash it, shroud it, pray over it, and bury it.