Is abortion allowed in Islam?

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful!

By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
Verily Man is in loss,
Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.”


Holy Quran- (Surah Asr 103:1-3) (Translation By Yusuf Ali)

Peace To Those Who Follow the Guidance!


Question :

What is the ruling on aborting a pregnancy in the early months (1-3) before the soul is breathed into the foetus?.

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

The Council of Senior Scholars issued the following statement:

1 – It is not permissible to abort a pregnancy at any stage unless there is a legitimate reason, and within very precise limits.

2 – If the pregnancy is in the first stage, which is a period of forty days, and aborting it serves a legitimate purpose or will ward off harm, then it is permissible to abort it. But aborting it at this stage for fear of the difficulty of raising children or of being unable to bear the costs of maintaining and educating them, or for fear for their future or because the couple feel that they have enough children – this is not permissible.

3 – It is not permissible to abort a pregnancy when it is an ‘alaqah (clot) or mudghah (chewed lump of flesh) (which are the second and third periods of forty days each) until a trustworthy medical committee has decided that continuing the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother’s wellbeing, in that there is the fear that she will die if the pregnancy continues. It is permissible to abort it once all means of warding off that danger have been exhausted.

4 – After the third stage, and after four months have passed, it is not permissible to abort the pregnancy unless a group of trustworthy medical specialists decide that keeping the foetus in his mother’s womb will cause her death, and that should only be done after all means of keeping the foetus alive have been exhausted. A concession is made allowing abortion in this case so as to ward off the greater of two evils and to serve the greater of two interests.

Question :

I would like to know the rulings that have to do with abortion of the foetus at various stages.

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:
We have already stated in the answer to question no. 42321 the ruling on abortion. Please refer to this information.

Secondly:
With regard to the rulings following an abortion, they vary according to the time of the abortion, and fall into four categories, as follows:

1 – If the pregnancy is aborted within the first two stages (the nutfah (drop) stage which results from the mixing of the “two waters” which is the first forty days after the embryo attaches itself in the womb, and the ‘alaqah (clot) stage where it turns into solid blood during the second forty days), which add up to a total of eighty days, then in this case if it is aborted as a nutfah or ‘alaqah, there are no rulings to be followed, and there is no scholarly dispute on this point. The woman should continue to fast and pray as if she had not had an abortion, but she has to do wudoo’ for each prayer if she has any bleeding, as in the case of a woman suffering from istihaadah (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding).

2 – If the pregnancy is aborted in the third stage, the mudghah (chewed piece of flesh) stage, when the embryo looks like a piece of meat with the limbs and features beginning to appear, which lasts for forty days from the eighty-first to the one hundred and twentieth day, then there are two scenarios:

(i) This embryo does not have any human features and the midwives or other attendants did not testify that this was the beginning of a human being. In this case the ruling on abortion of this mudghah is the same as the ruling on abortion in the first two stages, and there are no rulings to be followed.

(ii) The embryo has complete human features or some human features such as a hand or foot, etc, or there are features but they are indistinct, or the midwives or other attendants testified that this was the beginning of a human being. In this case the rulings on nifaas are to be followed, and this signals the end of ‘iddah (waiting period following divorce or death of the husband, if applicable).

3 – If the pregnancy is aborted in the fourth stage, i.e., after the soul has been breathed into the foetus, which is after the beginning of the fifth month or after one hundred and twenty days of pregnancy have passed. Here there are two scenarios:

(i) If the foetus did not cry after birth, then the rulings mentioned with regard to the second stage of the mudghah are to be followed, but in addition the foetus should be washed, shrouded and the funeral prayer offered for him; he should be given a name and the ‘aqeeqah offered for him.

(ii)If the foetus cried after birth, then the rulings concerning a full-term baby apply, as mentioned above; in addition the child may take possession of wealth bequeathed or inherited; he may inherit or be inherited from, etc.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 21/434-438.

Source

Islam Q&A (www.islam-qa.com)

Kind Regards

Qurban

jazakallahu kahirun

format_quote Originally Posted by Duhaa

Unless there's a chance that you'll be harmed (women), I cant think why anyone would want to kill their baby, whether it's less than 40 days or more.
The baby exists from day 1 anyway.

If you choose believe that the baby begins from day one (as I do), then you also need to consider that some forms of the birth control pills, Norplant, Depo-Provera and IUD can prevent the implementation of already fertilized eggs. I've attached a link addressing this issue. The link is from prolife.com (perhaps a bit radical), but you can find many more online sources which explain the abortifacient affect of commonly used contraceptives.
http://www.prolife.com/BIRTHCNT.html

Basically, many women have aborted their children (in the early stages of life) thanks to their birth control method. This of course is only true if you believe that life begins when the egg is fertilized by the sperm.:sister:

format_quote Originally Posted by Abd'Majid

you sure bout that?

SAHIH BUKHARI

Volume 9, Book 93, Number 546:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud:

Allah's Apostle the true and truly inspired, narrated to us, "The creation of everyone of you starts with the process of collecting the material for his body within forty days and forty nights in the womb of his mother. Then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period (40 days) and then he becomes like a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then an angel is sent to him (by Allah) and the angel is allowed (ordered) to write four things; his livelihood, his (date of) death, his deeds, and whether he will be a wretched one or a blessed one (in the Hereafter) and then the soul is breathed into him. So one of you may do (good) deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise so much that there is nothing except a cubit between him and Paradise but then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of Hell (Fire) and (ultimately) enters Hell (Fire); and one of you may do (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of Hell (Fire) so much so that there is nothing except a cubit between him and Hell (Fire), then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (good) deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise and ultimately) enters Paradise." (See Hadith No. 430, Vol. 4)

This is accurate. Therefore, if people wish to believe that life begins after the first trimester, then I respect that opinion. I personally believe that medical sciences have shown enough evidence to support that the fetus exhibits many signs of life during the first trimester. :sister:

What's the Islamic position on aborting a pregnancy caused by rape? That's what has always concerned me most about the position of Western "pro-lifers"; most don't seem to think rape sufficient reason to justify an abortion.

In my opinion it is justified, at least within that 40 day period you talk about, to avoid extreme psychological harm to the woman concerned. I don't see why psychological harm should be treated any differently to physical harm.

format_quote Originally Posted by Trumble

What's the Islamic position on aborting a pregnancy caused by rape? That's what has always concerned me most about the position of Western "pro-lifers"; most don't seem to think rape sufficient reason to justify an abortion.

In my opinion it is justified, at least within that 40 day period you talk about, to avoid extreme psychological harm to the woman concerned. I don't see why psychological harm should be treated any differently to physical harm.

You make a valid point. Psychological harm should be treated just as seriously as physical harm. Many Western "pro-lifers" will argue that abortion in itself will often cause psychological harm. This is often true.

Since abortion is not a black and white issue (and what really is?), I think it is best to leave the decision up to the woman.:sister:

I may not be a muslim but I would like to throw my 2 cents in...

I think we can all say that abortion is killing of a person... yeah its still in the womb and it hasn't been formed properly yet.. but you are taking a life that might grow up to be somebody important..
It is Gods Child or creation He is knitting the child as it is in the womb and then someone comes along and kills it.. your playing God.. and that I believe is blasphmous.
and then again God knows the future just as well as He knows the past and present perfectly, so it would fit that God as a plan other than ours...

IN HIM,
PrIM3

yeah but what bout contraception, coz as you talk about how your playing God, when your concieving (in more polite terms) arnt you preventing a human being developed, isnt it still like playing God?

well as i heard its haram unless there is something wrong with the child
anyways peace

Salaam

SAVE THE BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAN I'M STRONGLY AGAINST THIS UNLEST THERE'S RISK TO THE MUM.