What is the ruling on a woman's prayer, and when does her postpartum (nifas) period begin, if her fetus dies at four months of age and has not yet descended, and is she obligated to wash, shroud, and bury the fetus after it descends, knowing that the soul has been breathed into it?

A woman is considered pregnant as long as the fetus is in her womb, even if it has died. The blood a pregnant woman sees is not considered menses unless it appears one or two days before childbirth, in which case it is considered post-natal bleeding (nifas) according to the Hanbalis. According to others, the period of nifas does not begin until after delivery. As for a miscarriage (saqt), if it is born alive after the recognized period of gestation, it is to be washed, shrouded, and prayed over according to some scholars.