The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss

العَلَقَة

In the lexicon, alaqa is thick coagulated blood, or blood that clots before it dries; it is a stage in the formation of the embryo, from which the lump of flesh develops, and it follows the drop of semen ¹. The Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that causing the loss of the clot is forbidden; the Hanafis allow the loss of a pregnancy before a hundred and twenty days on conditions they set out, and some read this as limited to necessity ¹ ². The majority do not require a ghurra for a lost clot, while the Malikis do ². The majority hold that a woman who loses a clot is not counted as in post-natal bleeding, while the Malikis count her so, and a waiting period ends with it ².

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Prophetic Era
Region: Global / Diaspora
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Health, body and death Family, marriage and kinship

Summary

In the lexicon, alaqa is thick coagulated blood, or blood that clots before it dries. It is a stage of the embryo from which the lump of flesh develops, and it follows the drop of semen ¹.

Causing the loss of the clot

The Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that causing the loss of the clot is forbidden. The Hanafis allow the loss of a pregnancy before one hundred and twenty days on conditions they set out; some read this as limited to necessity ¹ ².

The ghurra and its effects

The majority do not require a ghurra for a lost clot; the Malikis do. The majority do not count the woman as in post-natal bleeding, while the Malikis do, and a waiting period ends with it ².

Where to look further

The rules of the ghurra are treated under «ghurra», post-natal bleeding under «nifas», and the waiting period under «idda» ².

People and things also explored

Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Pregnant woman (hamil) in fiqh· Janin (the unborn child)· The death and burial of Fatima bint Muhammad· The dosing of the Prophet during his illness· The Big Sick· Taj Mahal· Abawan (the two parents)

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11791
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11792

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/alaqa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)

In the lexicon, afal is a fleshy growth in a woman's genital passage, which arises after childbirth and not in virgins; some say it is a swelling that narrows the passage until penetration is impossible. Some jurists distinguish it from ratq, a closure from birth; both are defects that give an option to end the marriage. The Malikis and Hanbalis hold that it gives the husband an option to annul the marriage, since it defeats the marriage's main purpose; Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf hold that neither spouse has such an option. The Shafi'is count ratq and qaran, another closure, as defects peculiar to women that give the option.