Is expiation obligatory upon a mother who caused the death of her young daughter by scalding her with boiling water that she had left boiling?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The ruling regarding the death of a child by drowning in a pot of water depends on whether there was negligence or not. If placing the water on the ground without a cover, or allowing the child to play close to it in a place where she commonly enters, is considered negligence, then the mother is obligated to offer expiation (freeing a believing slave or fasting for two consecutive months) because she was a cause of the killing. However, if placing the water was customary and there was no negligence, then nothing is required of the mother.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/21598
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 21598
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy