Abortion In Islam

Abortion in Islam

In principle, the Qur'an condemns the killing of humans
(except in the case of defense or as capital punishment),
but it does not explicitly mention abortion. This leads
Islamic theologians to take up different viewpoints:
while the majority of early Islamic theologians permitted
abortion up to day 40 of pregnancy or even up to day
120, many countries today interpret these precepts
protecting unborn children more conservatively.
Although there is no actual approval of abortion in the
world of Islam, there is no strict, unanimous ban on it,
either. Islam has not given any precise directions with
regard to the issue of abortion. Hence it is not a matter,
which has been clearly stated in the Shari'ah (Islamic
Law) but rather an issue pertaining to the application of
our knowledge of the Shari'ah.  Such application may
vary in conclusion with a difference in the basic
premises of one's arguments.
The Qur'an clearly disapproves of killing other humans:
“Take not life which Allah has made sacred” (6: 151; see
also 4: 29  “If a man kills a believer intentionally, his
recompense is Hell, to abide therein (for ever)” ( 4: 93).
Allah (SWT) went even further, making unlawful killing
of a single individual human being equal to mass
murder of the whole of mankind: " Because of that, We
ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone killed a
person not in retaliation for murder or for spreading
mischief on earth, it would be as if he killed all mankind.
And who saved a life, it would be as if he saved all
mankind." (Al-Maidah, 5:32 )
As to whether abortion is a form of killing a human, the
Qur'an does not make any explicit statements. Only
Surah 17:31 warns believers in general: “Kill not your
children for fear of want. We shall provide sustenance
for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is
a great sin.”
There are those in Islam who oppose all abortions. A
favored text to support this is : "Do not kill your children
for fear of poverty for it is We who shall provide
sustenance for you as well as for them." ( Surah, Al-An'
am, 6:151).  This Qur'anic reference is to killing already
born children--usually girls. The text was condemning
this custom.  The Arabic word for killing used in this
text "means not only slaying with a weapon, blow or
poison, but also humiliating or degrading or depriving
children of proper upbringing and education." The text
doesn't explicitly address the abortion and therefore
doesn't close the argument on it.
The Qur'an says:
We created man from an essence of clay: then
placed him, a living germ,
In a secure enclosure. The germ We made a
leech; and the leech a lump of
Flesh; and this We fashioned into bones, then
clothed the bones with flesh;
Then We develop it into another creation.
(Surah Al-Mu'minoon, 23: 12-14)
This verse reveals how the fetus is formed and
transforms into a complete human being.
The elaborate process of the development of the first
human being is given in the Qur'an as follows:
He who has made everything which He
has created most good. He
began the creation of man with(nothing
more than) clay, and made
his progeny  from a quintessence of the
nature of a fluid despised.
Then He fashioned him in due proportion
and breathed into him some-
thing of His Ruh(Life-Energy). And (with this)
He gave you (the faculties
of ) hearing and sight and understanding. (Surah
Al-Sajadah, 32:7-9).
During the development of fetus, the body received the
Divine Ruh (Life-energy) and subsequently the human
faculties of hearing, sight and understanding were
developed.
There is no agreement among legal scholars – including
those of the founders of the four schools of religious law
of the early Islamic period – as to the exact point in
time this happens, however.
Abortion
Islam's approach to the issue of birth control and
abortion is very balanced. It allows women to prevent
pregnancy but forbids them to terminate it. In case of
rape the woman should use the morning after pill or
RU486 immediately after the sexual assault in order to
prevent the possible implantation of a fertilized ovum.
Modern technology (like ultra sound scan) has made it
possible to know whether or not a child has a defect
long before he is born. Some people justify the abortion
of a defective fetus.
The Shari'ah allows abortion only when doctors declare
with reasonable certainty that the continuation of
pregnancy will endanger the woman's life. This
permission is based on the principle of the lesser of the
two evils known in Islamic legal terminology as the
principle of al-ahamm wa 'l-muhimm (the more
important and the less important). The Prophet said,
"When two forbidden things come [upon a person]
together, then the lesser will be sacrificed for the
greater." In the present case, one is faced with two
forbidden things: either abort the unborn child or let a
living woman die. Obviously, the latter is greater than
the former; therefore, abortion is allowed to save the
live person. 1
Permissibility of Abortion 2
"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty: We
give them sustenance and yourselves (too): surely
to kill them is a great wrong." (17:31)
The abortion of a fetus from the mother's womb is
a different issue, since the sperm and egg have
already met and fertilized what could become a
human being. The scholars all agree that abortion is
forbidden after the first four months of pregnancy,
since by that time the soul has entered the embryo
but it would allow the use of RU486 (the "morning-
after pill"), as long as it could be reasonably
assumed that the fertilized egg has not become
implanted on the wall of the uterus. Most scholars
say that abortion is legal under Islamic Shari'ah
(law), when done for valid reasons and when
completed before the soul enters the embryo. To
abort a baby for such vain reasons as wanting to
keep a woman’s youthful figure, are not valid.
"...And do not slay your children for (fear of)
poverty -- We provide for you and for them
--- and do not draw nigh to indecencies, those
of them which are apparent and those which
are concealed, and do not kill the soul which
Allah has forbidden except for the requirements
of justice: this He has enjoined you with that
you may understand." ( 6:151)
Qur’anic verses misinterpreted 3
There are, however, some Qur'anic verses which
prohibit infanticide:
"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty: We
give them sustenance and yourselves (too): surely
to kill them is a great wrong." (17:31)
These verses in fact were revealed to forbid the pre-
Islamic Arab practice of killing or burying alive a
newborn child (particularly a girl) on account of the
parents' poverty or to refrain from having a female
child. Perhaps in those days, people did not know safe
methods of contraception and early abortion.
Embryonic development was central to the Muslim
arguments on abortion. According to Muslim scholars, it
is lawful to have an abortion during the first 120 days,
but after the stage of ensoulment (after the soul enters
into the fetus), abortion is prohibited completely except
where it is imperative to save the mother's life. After
ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited absolutely
and is akin to murder.
The Hanafi scholars, who comprised the majority of
orthodox Muslims in later centuries, permitted abortion
until the end of the four months. According to them, a
pregnant woman could have an abortion without her
husband's permission, but she should have reasonable
grounds for this act. One reason, which was mentioned
frequently, was the presence of a nursing infant. A new
pregnancy put an upper limit on lactation, and the
jurists believed that if the mother could not be replaced
by a wet-nurse, the infant would die.
Views of Four Madhhabs (Schools of Thought) 4
There is broad acceptance in the major Islamic schools
of law on the permissibility of abortion in the first four
months of pregnancy. Most of the schools that permit
abortion insist that there must be a serious reason for it
such as a threat to the mother's life or the probability of
giving birth to a deformed or defective child. However,
as the Egyptian booklet."(The Arab Republic of Egypt
published a booklet called "Islam's Attitude Towards
Family Planning.") says: "Jurists of the Shiite Zaidiva
believe in the total permissibility of abortion before life
is breathed into the fetus, no matter whether there is a
justifiable excuse or not." That would be a pure form of
what some call "abortion on demand."
The majority of orthodox Muslims (following the Hanafi
school) in later centuries, allowed abortion until the
end of the four months. According to them, a pregnant
woman could have an abortion without her husband's
permission, but she should have reasonable grounds for
this act. Most of the Maliki jurists (legal scholars)
described abortion as completely forbidden. In their
view, when the semen settles in the womb, it is
expected to develop into a living baby and it should not
be disturbed by anyone. According to Ibn Jawziyyah,
when the womb has retained the semen, it is not
permitted for the husband and wife, or one of them or
the master of the slave-wife, to induce an abortion.
After ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited
absolutely and is akin to murder.
The Hanafi school (prevalent in Turkey, the Middle East
and Central Asia) allows abortions to take place
principally until day 120; some jurists restrict this
provision to “good cause”, e.g. if the mother is still
nursing an infant and fears that her milk may run out
during the new pregnancy. In aborting up to day 120,
the woman commits a mere moral transgression, not a
crime. The Shafi school (dominant in Southeast Asia,
southern Arabia, parts of East Africa) allows abortions
to be performed up to day 120. For the Maliki school
(prevalent in North and Black Africa) an abortion is
permissible with the consent of both parents up to day
40; it is no longer allowed after that. For the Hanbali
school (predominant in Saudi Arabia and United Arabic
Emirates) abortions are principally prohibited from day
40 onward.
Some Shiite groups, such as the Ismailis, do not permit
abortions to take place at all. In case of infringements of
this law, abortions before day 40 are penalized with a
monetary fee. Other Shiite groups such as the Zaydites
allow abortions to be performed up to day 120, equating
an abortion up to this point with contraception.
Whoever injures a pregnant woman to the extent that
she loses her child must pay compensation according to
Islamic law. Strictly speaking, this money belongs to the
dead child, who is to inherit it. The family of the
woman who undergoes an abortion must also pay
compensation if the child’s father had not consented to
the abortion performed on her.
Several differences become clear, however, between
modern legal practices and the statements made by
early Islamic jurists. In principle, the protection of
unborn lives is today in the forefront, i.e. modern-day
legal scholars judge more conservatively than the
authors of the early Islamic legal texts. Exceptions are
made in some countries if the life of the mother is
endangered, based on Surah Baqarah, 2:233: "A mother
should not be made to suffer because of her child.” As a
result, abortion is possible for health reasons up to day
90 in many countries. In Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan
and Turkey abortion is fully prohibited (an exception is
made if the mother’s life is endangered); this does not
imply, however, that abortions are not at all performed.
Tunisia’s liberal abortion practice allows for abortions
to be performed up to the end of the third month.
There, abortions are principally permissible for single
as well as married women in the first three months,
provided that a registered doctor performs them. The
approval of the husband or of a male guardian is not
required in Tunisia.
Some contemporary voices speak out fully against
abortion, arguing that Islam is granted strength through
multitudes of children. Traditionally, a large family with
several sons has always been the ideal situation in the
Islamic world. Abortion in this context is compared with
murder, with references to the endangered health of the
woman. Other voices view abortion as a type of birth
control and refer to the fact that the wives of prophets
also practiced birth control with the approval of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). Muslim women’s
rights advocates demand the right to free abortion in
connection with the demand for self-determination. The
hesitation of many doctors, for fear of legal prosecution,
to perform abortions in clinics leads to illegal operations
and numerous cases of death. A number of legal
assessments (fatwas) have been published on the
subject of abortion; this support one viewpoint or the
other but do not legally have the character of law and
are therefore not binding.
Abortion in Islam 5
Some Muslims argue that abortion is permissible if the
fetus is younger than four months (120 days). They
quote a statement from the Prophet (s) that refers to a
human being starting as a fertilized ovum in the uterus
of the mother for forty days, then it grows into a clot for
the same period, then into a morsel of flesh for the
same period, then an angel is sent to that fetus to blow
the Ruh into it and to write down its age, deeds,
sustenance, and whether it is destined to be happy or
sad.
Assuming the Hadith to be authentic, scholars explain
that the error comes from understanding that before the
Ruh is blown into the fetus at 120 days, the fetus is not
a living entity, and therefore aborting it does not
amount to killing it. It therefore becomes clear that
aborting a fetus before 120 days is still killing a living
entity, let alone abortion after that presumed period.
Some Muslims argue that the only case when aborting a
fetus, before or after 120 days, is allowed in Islam, is
when a medical situation threatens the life of the
mother, leaving only two options, to let either the other
or the fetus survive, but not both. Scholars argue that
such a case can only be determined by a specialist,
trusted and committed Muslim doctor. They argue that
the mother can have other children, whereas the child
cannot make up for losing the mother.
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi 6
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states in his well-known book,
“The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam” :
“While Islam permits preventing pregnancy for valid
reasons, it does not allow doing violence to it once it
occurs.
Muslim jurists have agreed unanimously that after the
fetus is completely formed and has been given a soul,
abortion is Haram . It is also a crime, the commission of
which is prohibited to the Muslim because it constitutes
an offense against a complete, living human being.
Jurists insist that the payment of blood money (diya )
becomes incumbent if the baby is aborted alive and
then died, while a fine of lesser amount is to be paid if
it is aborted dead.
However, there is one exceptional situation. If, say the
jurists, after the baby is completely formed, it is reliably
shown that the continuation of the pregnancy would
necessarily result in the death of the mother, then, in
accordance with the general principle of the Shari'ah,
that of choosing the lesser of two evils, abortion must be
performed. The reason for this is that the mother is the
origin of the fetus; moreover, her life is well established
with duties and responsibilities, and she is also a pillar
of the family. It would not be possible to sacrifice her
life for the life of a fetus which has not yet acquired a
personality and which has no responsibilities or
obligations to fulfill.
Allah Almighty knows best.
REFERENCES:
1. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Chapter 4:
contraceptives and Abortion. Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi,
Pub. By Islamic Education and Information Center,
Scarborough, Ont. Canada.
2.(-) 1 st March 1999
3.Family Planning and Islam: A Review by Khalid Farooq
Akbar Hamdard Islamicus Vol. 17, No. 3, 1974.
4. Abortion in Islam. Christine Schirrmacher (Institute
for Islamic Studies) Online at www.islaminstitut.de/
english/publications/abortion.htm
5. Abortion in Islam. Elsayed Kandil, SALAM Magazine,
Sydney, New South Wales.
6. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. "Lawful and the Prohibited in
Islam" Islamic Book Service, 1982

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