Conclusions

We believe that aggressive resuscitation of infants born at 25 weeks' gestation is indicated, but not of those born at 22 weeks. Whether the occasional child who is born at 23 or 24 weeks' gestation and does well justifies the considerable mortality and morbidity of the majority is a question that should be discussed by parents, health care providers, and society.

It seems that 56% of infants survived after being born at 24 weeks, and by 25 weeks, the number went up to 79%. Results are not shown for 26 weeks (6 months), but these things tend to go up, not down.

God only knows what the Quran's author was thinking when he wrote that 6 months is the "period of gestation".

We know that isn't how long the average baby is in the womb. We know also that isn't the minimum age of viability... and it isn't even the age of viability where there is a 50/50 chance of the child surviving.

Even if we were to assume that the Quran is going by the Lunar Calendar, 6 months would still be 25 weeks, not 24. At 25 weeks, survivability jumps from 56% to 79%.

http://www.hijracalendar.com/

TG12345 wrote: You are correct, the verse definitely was intepreted by 'Ali to state that 6 months is the minimum amount of time that a woman is pregnant, and that a child born less than 6 months after marriage is a product of adultery. I was waiting for you or someone else to say that. Six months allegedly is the minimum period of pregnancy according to the Quran... yet as you yourself pointed out, in reality, it isn't.

islamispeace wrote: The sixth month is indeed the minimum amount of time needed for a baby to survive, even without medical treatment.  The hadith proved that.  The baby that was born obviously survived, despite not receiving the kind of medical care we have now.  Even in modern times, six months is generally considered to be the absolute earliest that a baby can survive, though with "intensive care": "Even though its lungs are not fully developed, a fetus born during this month can survive with intensive care. Weighing 1-1.5 lbs (454-681 g), the fetus is red, wrinkly, and covered with fine hair all over its body. The fetus will grow very fast during this month as its organs continue to develop" [http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pregnancy+duration]. Notice that the sixth month is extremely important in that it is during this month that the rate of development increases.

Where do the commentaries state that 6 months is the minimum time that a baby needs to survive without medical treatment? I have read the tafsirs Ibn Abbas, Al Jalalayn, Ibn Qathir, Muhammad Asad, Yusuf Ali, Maulana Maududi on this verse, and those that say that 6 months is the minimum period say nothing about medical treatment or lack thereof being a factor. They state only that 6 months is the minimum period.

Secondly, the source you cited stated that the baby �can survive with intensive care�. What do you think this is a reference to, if not medical treatment?

islamispeace wrote: So, this is just another matter of semantics.  The Quran is making a general statement.  Of course, there are always exceptions.  Notice that Ibn Kathir emphasized that the child would have to be "sound and complete".  This implies that the baby could survive without any kind of medical intervention.  But as we have seen, babies which are born earlier than 6 months have generally had high mortality rates, even with modern medical treatment.  But as medical technology improves, it is expected that the mortality rates would decrease.  Whether it is 26 weeks, 25 weeks or 24 weeks (and in rare cases, 23 weeks), these births all occur in the sixth month.

This is how minimum is defined by dictionary.com

minimum

[min-uh-muh m]

• Examples
• Word Origin

noun, plural minimums, minima

[min-uh-muh] (Show IPA)

1.

the least quantity or amount possible, assignable, allowable, or the like.

2.

the lowest speed permitted on a highway.

3.

the lowest amount, value, or degree attained or recorded.

4.

an arbitrary amount set by a restaurant, nightclub, etc., as the least amount to be charged each person for food and drink.

Compare cover charge.

5.

Mathematics.

1. Also called relative minimum, local minimum. the value of a function at a certain point in its domain, which is less than or equal to the values at all other points in the immediate vicinity of the point.

Compare absolute minimum.

2. the point in the domain at which a minimum occurs.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minimum

Minimum obviously means the lowest amount or number possible. The Quran allegedly states that 6 months is the lowest amount of time possible for a child to be born after conception, according to the commentaries you cited. Obviously, that isn�t true.

If there are �exceptions to the rule�, then 6 months is not the minimum, some other period of time is. Presently, it is 22 weeks. It may even get lower, we don�t know.

How did you come to the conclusion that �sound and complete� means survival without medical intervention?

TG12345 wrote: Children have been born and lived, after less than 6 months in the womb. True, there is a higher mortality rate before 24 weeks than at 24 weeks, and at 24 weeks it is higher than at 29 weeks.

Islamispeace wrote: Yes, but they have survived only because of medical intervention.  It gets harder and harder to keep a baby alive as the period of development decreases, even with modern medical advances.  The sixth month is crucial because it is the period of rapid growth.  Also, it is during this month that the lungs undergo development.

Yes, but neither the verse or its commentaries state that the 6 month figure has anything to do with medical intervention. They clearly state it is the minimum age of viability. That was true to a certain point in the 20^th century. It isn�t anymore.

Even some 21^st century Muslim scholars, despite all the medical advancements that exist, continue to state that 6 months is the minimum amount of time that a child can be born and live. Here is an answer to a question from �Islamweb�.

Question

Bismillah Assalaamuu Alaikum warahamatuhlahi wbarakatuh! I am being tediously harassed with this question from the kufar. Can you please send me an answer as soon as possible. "The Koran provides that the length of a normal gestation (pregnancy) is six months (Luqman 31:14; al-Baqarah 2:233; al-Ahqaf 46:15). Luqman 31:14 and al-Baqarah 2:233 provide a nursing period of 24 months. Al-Ahqaf 46:15 provides a total of 30 months for both gestation and nursing combined. This leaves only six months for the period of gestation. We know that this is not true. Normal gestation lasts nine months. Can you explain this error?" May Allah bless you and reward you.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

What the Quran states that the period of pregnancy is six month is correct and you should not say that it is wrong, because the pregnancy has its maximum period and its minimum period. The maximum period of pregnancy is nine months as it is well-known, and its minimum period is six months. There are some women who give birth when she is only six or seven or eight months pregnant, and the born child lives. Allaah, The Most Exalted and The Most High, clarified to us the minimum period of pregnancy because there are some religious rulings that apply to it, like establishing the lineage of a child or denying it, inheritance, divorce, the waiting period and the like. Among these issues, is that if a woman gives birth to a child five months after marrying her, then the new-born is not traced back to the husband.

Therefore, it is not permissible to describe what is mentioned in the Quran as being wrong. Rather, what the Quran states that the minimum period of pregnancy is six months is confirmed by modern science, that the fetus may be born at the age of six months and it can live, and this is what is called a premature baby. Moreover, medical evidence proves that the fetus that is born before a full six months period does not live.

Finally, we advise you to avoid debating with the non-Muslims if you do not have enough religious knowledge in to refute their misconceptions.

Allaah Knows best.

http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=137526

Keeping in mind that 21^st century medical science does not �prove� that a child born before a full 6 month period does not live- since exceptions definitely happen and some kids are born in the 5 month period- where would they get such an idea from? Obviously the Quran, which as previous commentaries have stated, says that 6 months is the minimum age of gestation. Obviously, that is not true.

TG12345 wrote: Yet 6 months is not 24 weeks, but 26*! Setting 6 months as "the minimum period" that a baby can be viable makes no sense, since children have been born alive before that time. Even saying that it is the point where the chance of survival is 50-50 (which is not the minimum age of viability since the kid still may live so why that would be brought up is beyond me) is also not true, since that happens 2 weeks earlier.

Islamispeace wrote: Again, they survive because of medical intervention.  Without it, they would in all likelihood not survive.  And whether we are talking about 24 weeks, 25 weeks or 26 weeks, we are still talking about the sixth month.

If we are talking about the 24^th week (where the odds actually are 50/50), we are talking about the 5^th month, not the 6^th. Today is the 3^rd week of September. Are we in the month of September, or the month of October?

And again, it is irrelevant when a higher than 50/50 chance of survival kicks in and/or how much medical care is available, since the commentators of the verse clearly said that, according to the Quran, 6 months is the minimum age at which a child can be born. Any child born at the age of 5 months and a week or more already proves this wrong.

TG12345 wrote: The question is quite obvious here. Why would the author of the Quran set 6 months as the minimum period pregnancy? Didn't he know that technology will move ahead, and the minimum period of gestation will be pushed back?

Islamispeace wrote: Why would He have to say that?

So people wouldn�t get the false idea that the minimum age of viability is six months, when it clearly isn�t.

Islamispeace wrote: There is a famous hadith which states that for every disease, God has sent down the cure.

Interesting. What was understood by the word �cure�?

Islamispeace wrote:   Hence, there is no reason to think that things cannot improve.  As I said before, as life expectancy increases, the baby's weaning period can be adjusted accordingly (up to a maximum of 24 months) to make 30 months total.

If a baby is born at 5 months and a week instead of six, the mother would have to wean it for a shorter period of time.

Yet doctors are recommended to encourage mothers to breastfeed children for two years or more.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Support exclusive breastfeeding with vitamin D supplementation for the first four to six months (level III-A [Table 1]).

�         �  Table 1

�         Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination levels of evidence

�         �  Encourage continued breastfeeding up to two years and beyond if desired by mother and infant, while providing appropriate nutritional guidance (level III-A).

�         �  Introduce iron fortified infant cereal as the first solid food by six months of age to avoid iron deficiency (level III-A).

�         �  Advise slow, progressive, natural weaning whenever possible (level III-A).

�         �  Inform and support the breastfeeding mother while ensuring adequate nutrition for the infant regardless of the timing of weaning.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2720507/

TG12345 wrote: *365 days a year divided by 12 will get you 30.4 days- the length of the average month. Multiply that by 6, and you get 182.5 days. Multiply 24 weeks by 7 and you get 168 days. 24 weeks is not 6 months, but 5.5 months.

Islamispeace wrote: Which can be rounded up to 6 months.  What's your point?  The ".5" indicates that we are already half-way through the 6th month.  As I said, the sixth month is the crucial stage in development.  If the baby was born during the 5th month, the chances of survival are probably zero, even with modern medical treatment.

The �.5� indicates that we are halfway through the 5^th month, not the sixth. If we are going to go by the lunar calendar, it would indicate we are � of the way through the fifth month.

BTW, what�s with the rounding off of 5.75 months to 6? The commentaries clearly state that 6 months is the minimum.

According to OnIslam, 6 months is the minimum, because it represents all possible cases. This is meant to be very precise, for legal reasons.

Length of Gestation in the Qur�an

The Quran�s author clearly said that 6 months is the minimum amount of time possible for the duration of the gestation. He said nothing about �rounding off� this number to 5.5 or 5.75. I can understand why you would wish he did that, or say that he meant that it is the threshold when the chance of survival is around 50/50. He clearly didn�t, though.

6 months was meant to be the minimum. And it isn�t. There is a mistake.

TG12345 wrote: From a study conducted by the New England Journal School of Medicine: The Limit of Viability -- Neonatal Outcome of Infants Born at 22 to 25 Weeks' Gestation Marilee C. Allen, Pamela K. Donohue, and Amy E. Dusman N Engl J Med 1993; 329:1597-1601November 25, 1993DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199311253292201   Background With improved survival of preterm infants, questions have been raised about the limit of viability. To provide better information and counseling for parents of infants about to be delivered after 22 to 25 weeks' gestation, we evaluated the mortality and neonatal morbidity of preterm infants born at these gestational ages. Full Text of Background... Methods We studied retrospectively all 142 infants born at 22 to 25 weeks' gestation (as judged by best obstetrical estimate) from May 1988 through September 1991 in a single hospital. Mortality in the first six months, including stillbirths, and neonatal morbidity (i.e., the presence of intracranial pathologic conditions, chronic lung disease, and retinopathy of prematurity) were analyzed. Full Text of Methods... Results Fifty-six infants (39 percent) survived for six months. Survival improved with increasing gestational age; none of 29 infants born at 22 weeks' gestation survived, as compared with 6 of 40 (15 percent) born at 23 weeks, 19 of 34 (56 percent) born at 24 weeks, and 31 of 39 (79 percent) born at 25 weeks. There were seven stillbirths at 22 weeks' gestation and four stillbirths at 23 weeks. The more immature the infant, the higher the incidence of neonatal complications as determined by the number of days of mechanical ventilation, the length of the hospital stay, and the presence of retinopathy of prematurity, periventricular or intraventricular hemorrhage, or periventricular leukomalacia. Only 2 percent of infants born at 23 weeks' gestation survived without severe abnormalities on cranial ultrasonography, as compared with 21 percent of those born at 24 weeks and 69 percent of those born at 25 weeks. Full Text of Results... Conclusions We believe that aggressive resuscitation of infants born at 25 weeks' gestation is indicated, but not of those born at 22 weeks. Whether the occasional child who is born at 23 or 24 weeks' gestation and does well justifies the considerable mortality and morbidity of the majority is a question that should be discussed by parents, health care providers, and society. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199311253292201 It seems that 56% of infants survived after being born at 24 weeks, and by 25 weeks, the number went up to 79%. Results are not shown for 26 weeks (6 months), but these things tend to go up, not down.   God only knows what the Quran's author was thinking when he wrote that 6 months is the "period of gestation". We know that isn't how long the average baby is in the womb. We know also that isn't the minimum age of viability... and it isn't even the age of viability where there is a 50/50 chance of the child surviving. Even if we were to assume that the Quran is going by the Lunar Calendar, 6 months would still be 25 weeks, not 24. At 25 weeks, survivability jumps from 56% to 79%. http://www.hijracalendar.com/

Islamispeace wrote: This study was referring to survivability up to 6 months after birth, and also in the context of aggressive medical intervention.

It was referring to survivability up to 5.5 months after birth, in the context of aggressive medical intervention.

Islamisepeace wrote: Other studies have considered the long term effects of low gestational age.  According to a 2008 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, survivability into adulthood for babies born between 23-27 weeks was only 17.8%, whereas for those born at 28-30 weeks was 57.3%: "The study included 903,402 infants who were born alive and without congenital anomalies (1822 born at 23 to 27 weeks of gestation, 2805 at 28 to 30 weeks, 7424 at 31 to 33 weeks, 32,945 at 34 to 36 weeks, and 858,406 at 37 weeks or later). The proportions of infants who survived and were followed to adult life were 17.8%, 57.3%, 85.7%, 94.6%, and 96.5%, respectively" [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18635431] In other words, for those born at 23-27 weeks, over 80% did not survive into adulthood.  Unfortunately, the study did not separate results for each specific week (i.e. survival for 23 weeks, 24 weeks, etc.)

It didn�t, so there is no way to verify that at 25 weeks, the survivability stands at around 50/50. And it is irrelevant in either case, since the commentaries say that 6 months is the minimum amount of time that a baby can be born.

Islamispeace wrote: Another study found that births at 24 weeks were associated with only a 43% chance of survival, but this increased to 74% by the 25th week (which would be 5.77 months, very close to 6 full months).  Indeed the authors of the study concluded: "Survival at 24 weeks was only 43% despite treatment with antenatal steroids and exogenous surfactant. The cost per survivor for infants born at 24 weeks was higher than the cost for those born after 1 more week in utero. Outcome improved markedly between 24 and 26 weeks, and small differences in gestational age lead to large economic differences. All efforts should be attempted to prolong pregnancy, and if prolongation is unsuccessful, treatment options including nonintervention should be available to parents of 24-week gestations" [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9351768]. Furthermore, 26 weeks is considered the "benchmark group", according to an article in ScienceDaily: "For this study, published in the Anales de Pediatr�a journal, the experts only analysed the youngest newborns, in other words, 3,236 babies born after 26 weeks or less of pregnancy. According to the experts, the so-called 'limit of viability' is between 22 and 25 weeks. "Babies rarely survive at 22 weeks and, when they do, it is at the expense of enduring many complications and long hospital stays, which involve a lot of suffering for them and their families," Garc�a-Mu�oz Rodrigo added. The chances of survival increase from that point onwards and the proportion of complications gradually decreases as the gestational age rises. Indeed, babies at 26 weeks, despite being very high-risk, are considered viable and are a benchmark group for comparing the results from the other gestational ages" [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918091226.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20sciencedaily%20%28Latest%20Science%20News%20--%20ScienceDaily%29]. Yet another study confirms the importance of gestational age of a minimum of 26 weeks: "Initiating resuscitation and intensive care for preterm infants is generally accepted from 26 weeks� gestational age (GA) on.[1]-[3] By contrast, initial resuscitation and management of the extremely preterm infant born at 22 to 25 weeks� GA is controversial" [http://www.bcmj.org/article/management-newborn-delivered-threshold-viability].

None of these studies say that at 25 weeks, the probability that a child will survive is 50/50, like you earlier stated. Also, if 25 weeks is 5.77 months, it may be very close to 6 months but it isn�t 6 months, it is 5. Are you using the solar or lunar calendar, btw?