Quranic theme
Baby
الرضيع
10 verses
The human lifecycle begins in deliberate stages: from dust, to a drop of fluid, to a clinging form, and finally a lump of flesh both shaped and unshaped (22:5). The Quran establishes that no female conceives or brings an infant into the world without God’s direct knowledge, and every life’s length is already written in a Record (35:11, 41:47). From the moment a child is brought forth from the womb, they enter a period of absolute dependency before growing to maturity, facing the possibility of dying young or living until they reach an age where they forget all they once knew (22:5).
How does God protect helpless infants?
When recounting the lives of messengers, the Quran emphasizes their initial vulnerability to highlight divine intervention. Moses is introduced not as a powerful leader, but as a baby cast into a river inside a chest (20:39). God planned for the river to wash the infant onto its bank to be taken in by Pharaoh—an enemy to God and the child—while showering the baby with divine love and rearing him under a watchful eye (20:39). Pharaoh’s wife immediately viewed the infant as a joy to behold, convincing her husband not to kill him, but to adopt him or put him to use, entirely unaware of what they were actually doing (28:9).
Similarly, Mary’s newborn was defended not by armies, but by the infant himself. When her people questioned how they could converse with a baby, Jesus spoke directly to them, stating, "I am a servant of God. He has granted me the Scripture; made me a prophet" (19:29–30).
What are an infant's rights to care?
The physical needs of the newborn are strictly protected by mutual parental responsibility. Classical scholars note the injunctions against causing an infant distress through sudden weaning or depriving them of familiar care. As al-Nakhjuwani notes (الفواتح الإلهية والمفاتح الغيبية, 1/ 80), parents may consult each other regarding weaning, but only if it does not harm the baby; if the infant is harmed, a judge can intervene to prevent the child's ruin. Financial responsibility for the nursing infant is also categorically secured. If a father dies without leaving wealth, the obligation to fund the infant's care falls immediately upon his relatives, as Ibn 'Ashur details (تفسير ابن عاشور التحرير والتنوير, 2/ 436). Neither parent is permitted to use the baby as a means to inflict emotional or financial harm on the other, ensuring the infant's rights remain the undisputed priority, a principle reinforced by Majma' al-Buhuth (التفسير الوسيط - مجمع البحوث, 1/ 393).
How does the Quran address the birth of baby girls?
The text directly confronts cultural hostility toward female infants. It details the immediate psychological reaction of a man given news of a daughter’s birth: his face darkens and he is filled with gloom (16:58). The Quran frames the ultimate justice for the extreme consequence of this hostility—infanticide—as a central event of the Resurrection.
The bond between a mother and her newborn serves as the baseline of human instinct, an attachment so deep that its sudden rupture signals the absolute severity of God's torment. When the Day of Judgment arrives, people will appear drunk when they are not, pregnant females will miscarry, and every nursing mother will think no more of her baby (22:2). Amidst that terror, the divine reckoning pauses for the most vulnerable of all, when the baby girl buried alive is asked (81:8).
Verses
All 10 verses, in mushaf order.
وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُم بِٱلْأُنثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُۥ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ
When one of them is given news of the birth of a baby girl, his face darkens and he is filled with gloom.
فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَيْهِ ۖ قَالُوا۟ كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِى ٱلْمَهْدِ صَبِيًّا
She pointed at him. They said, ‘How can we converse with an infant?’
قَالَ إِنِّى عَبْدُ ٱللَّهِ ءَاتَىٰنِىَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِى نَبِيًّا
[But] he said: ‘I am a servant of God. He has granted me the Scripture; made me a prophet;
أَنِ ٱقْذِفِيهِ فِى ٱلتَّابُوتِ فَٱقْذِفِيهِ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ فَلْيُلْقِهِ ٱلْيَمُّ بِٱلسَّاحِلِ يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لِّى وَعَدُوٌّ لَّهُۥ ۚ وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِّنِّى وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَىٰ عَيْنِىٓ
“Put your child into the chest, then place him in the river. Let the river wash him on to its bank, and he will be taken in by an enemy of Mine and his.” I showered you with My love and planned that you should be reared under My watchful eye.
يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّآ أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى ٱلنَّاسَ سُكَـٰرَىٰ وَمَا هُم بِسُكَـٰرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ ٱللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ
on the Day you see it, every nursing mother will think no more of her baby, every pregnant female will miscarry, you will think people are drunk when they are not, so severe will be God’s torment.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍ مِّنَ ٱلْبَعْثِ فَإِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ عَلَقَةٍ ثُمَّ مِن مُّضْغَةٍ مُّخَلَّقَةٍ وَغَيْرِ مُخَلَّقَةٍ لِّنُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ ۚ وَنُقِرُّ فِى ٱلْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَآءُ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوٓا۟ أَشُدَّكُمْ ۖ وَمِنكُم مَّن يُتَوَفَّىٰ وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَىٰٓ أَرْذَلِ ٱلْعُمُرِ لِكَيْلَا يَعْلَمَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ عِلْمٍ شَيْـًٔا ۚ وَتَرَى ٱلْأَرْضَ هَامِدَةً فَإِذَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا ٱلْمَآءَ ٱهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنۢبَتَتْ مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍۭ بَهِيجٍ
People, [remember,] if you doubt the Resurrection, that We created you from dust, then a drop of fluid, then a clinging form, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped: We mean to make Our power clear to you. Whatever We choose We cause to remain in the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants and then you grow and reach maturity. Some die young and some are left to live on to such an age that they forget all they once knew. You sometimes see the earth lifeless, yet when We send down water it stirs and swells and produces every kind of joyous growth:
وَقَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّتُ عَيْنٍ لِّى وَلَكَ ۖ لَا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُۥ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
and Pharaoh’s wife said, ‘Here is a joy to behold for me and for you! Do not kill him: he may be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son.’ They did not realize what they were doing.
وَٱللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا ۚ وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلَا يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِۦٓ إِلَّا فِى كِتَـٰبٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ
It is God who created you from dust and later from a drop of fluid; then He made you into two sexes; no female conceives or gives birth without His knowledge; no person grows old or has his life cut short, except in accordance with a Record: all this is easy for God.
۞ إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ ٱلسَّاعَةِ ۚ وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِن ثَمَرَٰتٍ مِّنْ أَكْمَامِهَا وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِۦ ۚ وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَآءِى قَالُوٓا۟ ءَاذَنَّـٰكَ مَا مِنَّا مِن شَهِيدٍ
Knowledge of the Hour belongs solely to Him and no crop comes out of its sheath, nor does any female conceive or give birth, without His knowledge. On the Day He asks them, ‘Where are My partners?’ they will answer, ‘We admit to You that none of us can see [them]’:
وَإِذَا ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ سُئِلَتْ
when the baby girl buried alive is asked