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Q 5:
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There is a woman who suffers from a psychological illness. Some people have told her that if someone is suffering from a serious illness, Surah Al­Zalzalah should be read over water, and if the person who is ill drinks it, they will either be cured or die. She asked someone to recite this for her and she drank the water they recited over. After a period of time, the woman became pregnant, so she drank some of the water and she gave birth to a healthy baby. Then, after weaning him, she became pregnant again. During the ninth month, her illness returned, so she drank some of the water again. However, on the same day, she gave birth to a stillborn baby. After another period of time, she became pregnant once again and her illness returned again, so she drank some of the same water. In the eighth month of her pregnancy, she gave birth to another stillborn baby. After a further period of time, she became pregnant again and in the seventh month, her illness returned, she drank some of the water, and the following night she gave birth to a living baby daughter. I have heard people say that reading Surah Al­Zalzalah over water and drinking it causes miscarriages, if the water contains black cumin. She did not know about this, so is she to blame for the children who died?
A: First: what some people say that Surah Al­Zalzalah either cures illness or causes death, and that it causes miscarriages has no basis in the Shari'ah (Islamic law); in fact they are common false superstitions.
Second: The woman in question should not offer Fidyah (ransom) or Kaffarah (expiation), as what she did was not the cause of the deaths.