Contents

Topics Pages

1 Introduction 3

1.1 Definition of abortion 3

1.2 Methods of abortion 3

1.3 Risk of abortion 4

1.4 Abortion in Islamic jurisprudence 4

1.5 Abortion in ethics perspective 6

1.6 Punishment for abortion 7

2 The permitted and prohibited abortion 8

2.1 Case 1: Abortion for Raped Woman 8

2.2 Case 2: Abortion when pregnancy will cause death of the

mother10

2.3 Case 3: Abortion: Foetus with deformities and chronic disease 13

3.1 Case 4: Abortion due to adultery 16

4 Conclusion 22

5 Bibliography 24

1

Introduction

Definition of abortion

Abortion is the act of terminating pregnancy. It is any action with the aim of expelling the

fetus inside a woman’s womb before the end of the natural period of gestation. However, it is

important to be aware of the differences between abortion and miscarriage, where miscarriage is

spontaneous due to physical injury of the woman or as a result of internal biomedical factors.1

The main issue that has caused debate throughout the whole academic world is of abortion.

Methods of abortion

There are various methods used to abort a fetus. One of them is by using the dilation and

curettage (D&C) method which is normally used to treat various uterine conditions in non-

pregnant women. However, as an abortion procedure, it tears the unborn child from the uterus

wall by stretching open the mother’s cervix. To check if there are any fetal parts still in the

womb, a nurse has to examine the baby’s remains. Another method is the vacuum aspiration,

also known as the suction abortion and is the most common early – usually up to 12 weeks-

surgical technique. The cervix must be stretched open to allow the surgeon to insert a plastic tube

into the womb. Sharp-edged openings near the tip of the tube help to dismember the baby so the

parts are small enough to be sucked out. The surgeon then uses the suction tube to evacuate the

placenta from the womb. The remains of the baby are deposited in a jar for disposal. This is the

technique that abortion promoters call “safe, early abortion”. Hysterotomy is another abortion

procedure, although it is relatively rare, it is essentially the same as a caesarian section birth. The

1 Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim. Biomedical Issues in Islamic Perspective. (1993). (pg. 121).2

mother’s abdomen is cut open and the child – typically still alive – is removed from the womb.

Aside from this, there is also the salt-poisoning technique, where a concentrated salt solution is

injected into the amniotic fluid, killing the baby by acute salt poisoning. This technique is used

after 16 weeks. It takes over an hour for the baby to die. After 24 hours, the mother goes into

labor and delivers the dead child. The last technique is an alternative late abortion by using a

drug named prostaglandin. It causes powerful contractions of the womb, expelling the fetus and

usually kills him or her in the process. In later abortions, doctors inject a further drug, such as the

poison urea into the womb, to ensure that the baby does not survive.

Risk of abortion

There are countless risks to the woman when a decision is made to do an abortion. For

instance, when stretching the mother’s cervix, there is a possibility of the death or premature

delivery of a baby in a subsequent pregnancy. There is the risk of haemorrhage and sepsis. Aside

from that, hysterotomy brings dangerous possibilities such as peritonitis, the rupture of the

operation scar in a future pregnancy, thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Abortion by salt-

poisoning brings huge danger to a mother. Although the prostaglandin method is more

expensive, it is also risky: the possibility of getting haemorrhage, infection and retention of the

placenta.2

Abortion in Islamic Jurisprudence

The Muslim community cannot be left out in this issue as it affects the human race as a

whole. They must return to the fundamental sources of Islam; the Holy Quran and the Hadith, as

it plays a vital and leading role in the daily affairs of the Muslim life. It should be noted that

2 Retrieved from http://www.spuc.org.uk/ethics/abortion/methods 3

there is actually no verse in the Holy Quran that refers specifically to abortion. However, there

are many very meaningful verses from which the validity of abortion according to the Islamic

juridical literature can be derived. For example,

“And indeed, We have honored the Children of Adam,… ” (17:70)3

This verse states that Islam upholds the sanctity of human life. Some other verses,

“If anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.” (5:32)4

“And do not kill anyone whose killing Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause.” (17:33)5

Through these verses we can interpret that the general teachings in the Holy Quran preserve life

except to enjoin justice, for a legal execution, in a just war and also for self-defense.6

Having understood this, it is also important to know the status of the fetus under the

Islamic Law. According to all the Schools of Islamic Law, it is necessary to postpone the

carrying of a death sentence on a pregnant woman until after the birth of the baby. This shows

that the fetus has the right to live in Islam. The Islamic Law also maintains that if a legator

passes away when a fetus is unborn, then the division of the heritage must be postponed until

after its birth, since the fetus’s gender is unknown until its birth. This also indicates that Islam

accepts its existence. Aside from that, Islamic Law, as stated by Ibn ‘Abidin, that the miscarried

fetus has the right to be given the ceremonial bath (al ghusl), named and placed in a piece of

3 Muhammad Taqiud-Din al-Hilali, Muhammad Muhsin Khan. The Noble Qur’an English Translation of the Meanings. (p. 378).4 Ibid. p. 148.5 Ibid. p. 372.6Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim. Biomedical Issues in Islamic Perspective. (1993). (pg.123).

4

cloth (kaffan) and buried, but no prayer should be read over it. This denotes that the fetus’s

sanctity is fully recognized, hence, aborting without any valid reason is against Islamic teaching.7

According to the four Schools of Islamic Law in their view on abortion, Hanafi seems to

be more flexible. It specifies that before the four month of pregnancy, an abortion may be done if

the new pregnancy will cause the death of the already existing infant of the pregnant woman. For

the Maliki view, abortion is not allowed after the implantation has taken place. The Shafi’i

School states that every stage after the fertilization, the zygote should not be disturbed. Any act

of disturbing it would be considered as a crime. The Hanbali School regards abortion as sinful

and states that the blood wit must be paid for causing a miscarriage.8

Abortion in ethics perspective

In discussing the validity of abortion from the ethic’s perspective, there are many sides to

this topic: those of which are against abortion and gives priority to the life of the baby and those

who believe that it is the woman’s choice whether to have the an abortion or not. Even though

there are many arguments to validate abortion, it is still accepted by all that abortion in itself is

wrong ethically due to the fact that killing a person and causing pain and suffering is always a

wrong act. However, there are many discussions on abortion in which will be discussed in

further detail in this paper.

Punishment for abortion

7 Ibid. p. 135-137.8 Ibid. p. 155.

5

For the punishment for committing illegal abortion, generally, all scholars unanimously

agreed that abortion done when the fetus has completely developed and gained soul is haram.9

This is because it is considered as offence against normal human being. Hence, it is considered

as a crime once the abortion is carried out. Because of that, it is incumbent for the criminal to

pay diyaat (blood money) if the baby aborted live and then died, and lesser amount of diyaat if

the baby is aborted died. 10

The permitted and prohibited abortion

9 Retrieved from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1119503543150&pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaEAskTheScholar10 Ibid.

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Cases 1: Abortion for Raped Woman

Because of certain reasons, nowadays the cases of rape are increasing day by day,

including cases which occur in Muslims community. Due to some reasons, the Muslims become

so weak. Consequently their honours, together with their countries are easily humiliated and

becoming fair games of others, especially the non-believers. Also, the influences from the

pornographic movies, literature and songs causes human being to go certainly astray from their

respective religions teachings or else their ethics.

As an Ad-Deen (way of life), Islam certainly provided its believers ways to surmount and

treats all kind of illnesses faced by them. For instance, in this kind of problem, Islam suggested

its believers to conceal all forms of indecent actions which may lead to this moral destruction.

This comprises of stopping indecent exposures of the body in public, banning pornographic

products, curtailing the free –intermingling of sexes, stopping the usage of women as enticement

in selling products, and publicly punished the guilty person for benefits of others, that is so that

they become afraid of committing such prohibited action. Unfortunately, this rape case may still

occur.

In Islam, this sexual crime is certainly not the same as fornication and adultery since it is

associated with force and violence.11 The victim who tried her best to stop this violence is

considered as not guilty since she is forced into it. As far this is concerned, Prophet Muhammad

(pbuh) has assured that his ummah are not guilty when he is actually forced to do wrong things.

This is stated as:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah has forgiven for my ummah for their mistakes, what they forget and

11 Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim. Biomedical Issues in Islamic Perspective. (1993). (pg.142).7

what they are forced to do.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah in al-Talaaq, 2033; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah, 1664). 12

In addition, the victim who is being patient in facing this hardship will be rewarded by

Allah and will enjoy with the fact that she is loved by Allah because of her patience and believes

in Allah. As for the Muslims brothers, they should quickly marry these unlucky women in order

to protect, to console and to help her reducing the pain of this sexual harassment.

Islam is known as the religion of moderation, thus Islam’s approach about the abortion is

very balanced. Islam allows women to prevent pregnancies but it disallows women to terminate

them as they are already considered as human being. Hence, raped women should immediately

prevent pregnancies after being attacked by using “morning-after” pill or RU468.13

However, sometimes due to ignorance, some women failed to treat this attack wisely and

failed to prevent pregnancies. Then, what should they do? According to Dr. Yusof Al-Qardawi,

women who get pregnant due to attack are allowed to terminate them. There is no doubt that the

women may hate the foetus.14 The other scholar said that she is allowed to terminate it since the

foetus may bring some additional hardship to her life, jeopardizing her life. Furthermore, once

born the foetus may deprive of father’s care, discrimination by the community members, in

which this will cause their lives to be difficult or else humiliated.

On the other hand, some scholars without any doubt allow the women to terminate the

baby given that the baby has not yet getting their soul, that is the abortion should immediately be

done within 120 days of conception (all scholars agreed that the foetus is given its “ruh” after

12 Ibid. 13 Retrieved from http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_101_150/abortion.htm14 Retrieved from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Ask_scholar/FatwaE

8

120 days of conception). After that period is over, it is understood that the women agree to give

birth to the developing foetus, hence the scholars all agreed that they are not allowed to terminate

their feotus. This is because, once the feotus get their “ruh”, they are considered as normal

human being who’s their soul is sanctioned in Islamic teaching. If a woman still does the

abortion she is considered as killing human being and punished to pay “diyaat”.

Despite of that, if the women think ethically that the feotus should remain in their

wombs, there is nothing wrong with that. The born baby is fully free from any sin and they are

indeed Muslims child. Prophet Muhammad clearly said about the born babies in his saying that

sound:

'Every child is born with a true faith (i.e., to worship none but Allah alone).' (Reported by al-Bukhari)15

In conclusion, the women can decide by themselves whether they are going to keep the

babies resulting from these assaults or not. There is nothing wrong if they terminate the baby

immediately before they get their souls or they keep the babies and give birth to them. They are

indeed pure Muslims babies, and their lives are sanctioned by Islam.

Case 2: Abortion when pregnancy will cause death of the mother

Every pregnancy has its own risk to the mother, either it is naturally happened or it is

caused by the lifestyle of the mother herself. Some of the cases are involved mother who is

suffering from cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure (hypertension). In the case of risk is

naturally happened, we take for an example of an ectopic pregnancy. In this case, the embryo

15 Ibid. 9

(developed fertilized egg) does not move into the uterus of the mother. Instead, the embryo

begins to develop in the mother’s fallopian tube. If the baby is allowed to develop inside the

tube, the tube soon will rupture and cause the death of the mother.

The range of the prohibited in Islam has been narrowed but it is been strictly observed.

Islam also has blocked the way, either apparent or hidden, which leads to the prohibited.

According to the syari’ah, what is contributing to the haram is itself haram, what assist in

commiting the haram is haram and so on. However, Islam does care about matters concern the

urgent demand of human life and is tolerable to human weakness and the capacity of them to

face difficulties. Islam makes life easy and less oppressive for mankind and lifts the burdens

from them. Allah Taala says in al – Qur’an:

‘…Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire hardship for you…’ (2:185)16

Thus, Islamic jurists have come out with principle called ‘necessity removes restictions’.

As agreed in Islam, abortion is impermissible or haram. However, in the case of

pregnancy which may cause the death of the mother as mentioned above, the Islamic scholars

agreed that abortion is permissible. The necessity of maintaining the life of mother removes the

restriction to abortion. As stated in a book written by A.D. Ajijola:

Secondly, if it becomes certain that abortion is the only way to save the life of an endangered mother, then abortion is lawful, according to the general rule of recourse to the ‘lesser evil’.17

16 Muhammad Taqiud-Din al-Hilali, Muhammad Muhsin Khan. The Noble Qur’an English Translation of the Meanings. (p. 37).17 A.D. Ajijola. The Concept of Family In Islam. (2002).

10

This consensus is based on the principle of al-ahamm wa ‘l-muhimm (the more important and

the less important) which is known in English, the lesser of two evils. According to a hadith, the

Prophet (pbuh) said, “When two forbidden things come (upon a person) together, then the lesser

will be sacrificed for the greater.” In this case, the two forbidden things are either to abort the

child or let the living mother dies. Thus we must choose the lesser one that is to abort the foetus.

This view is also supported by a Qur’anic verse, chapter al – Baqarah, verse 233:

‘…No mother shall be treated unfairly on account of her child…’18

Abortion is regard as the lesser evil because, as narrated by Shaykh Shaltut in his al Fatawa:

For the mother is the origin of the fetus; moreover, she is established in life, with duties and responsibilities, and she is also a pillar of the family. It is not possible to sacrifice her life for the life of the foetus which has not yet acquired a personality and which has no responsibilities or obligations to fulfill.19

This view is also supported by Sheikh Yusuf Qardawi in his book, The Lawful and the

Prohibited in Islam. Muslim scholars also agreed that abortion is allowed before or after 120

days (when the soul is already blown into the foetus), provided that a medical situation threatens

the life of the mother and the survival of both mother and fetus is impossible. This must be

determined by the specialist, trusted and committed medical doctors. Imam Bukhari quotes a

hadith of the Prophet:

“All of us have been kept as a drop of seed which remains in the shape of a drop in the mother’s womb for 40 days. Then for another 40 days, it remains in the form of a clot of blood. Then another 40 days it remains in the form of a lump of flesh. Then an angel is sent to the foetus who blows spirit (life) in to it.” 20

18 Muhammad Taqiud-Din al-Hilali, Muhammad Muhsin Khan. The Noble Qur’an English Translation of the Meanings. (p. 51).19 Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim. Biomedical Issues in Islamic Perspective. (1993). (p. 156).20 The hadith is supported by another hadith narrated by Abdullah bin Mas’ud quoted in book entitled Contemporary Medical Issues in Islamic Jurispudence, written by Qazi Mujahidul Islam Qasmi. (p. 226).

11

However, some narration from other Muslim scholar might bring up confusion which

forbids killing a person to save the life of other person. Sharh Sain al-Kabir narrated:

“It is not permissible for a Muslim to save his own life taking the life of some one that is prohibited by the Syari’ah.”21

Actually this injunction is only applied to the cases where the lives of both persons are at the

equal status. In the case of pregnancy, the way of the mother’s existence is certain whereas the

existence of the foetus is not that much certain. That is why the abortion is accepted as valid.22

In another view given by the grand Mufti of Egypt and Rector of Al-Azhar reads as

follows:

“During the first four months, fetal life is not believed to be human. Thus, juristic consensus exists only to the point that abortion after four months amounts to taking a life, but this limit may be set aside, if the mother’s life is at risk.”

Case 3: Abortion: Foetus with deformities and chronic disease

In a different case of abortion, there is a question either it is permissible or not for a

mother to abort her foetus if the foetus has the possibilities to be born with severe deformities, or

inherits chronic disease or genetic disease. With the vast development of technology in

biomedical field, it is possible to monitor the condition of the foetus in mother’s womb hence the

deformities in the growing foetus can also be detected almost accurately. This can be done

through following techniques:

21 Qazi Mujahidul Islam Qasmi. Contemporary Medical Issues in Islamic Jurispudence. (p. 133)22 Ibid. (p. 134)

12

i. Amniocentecisii. Fetoscopy

iii. Ultrasoundiv. X-rays23

There are several conditions of the foetus which are classified as unwanted pregnancy by the

mother and the conditions is confirmed by the ethical, commited and trustworthy doctors, such as

mental retardation, Down syndrome and suffer from severe disease like AIDS or major

thallesemia.

In this case, if the deformities of the foetus is certain and proven by trustworthy

physicians, and provided it cannot be treated by the specialist, then according to ‘Umar ibn

Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem Ghaanim, abortion is permissible.24 This ijtihad is due to the

difficulties the deformed child would face, the hardship of the parents in taking care of him/her,

and the burden that would be placed upon the society.25 Abortion is permissible in condition that

the foetus is aborted before the foetus become alive which is within the first four months.

However, once the soul is blown into the foetus, abortion is strictly not permitted, no matter what

the deformity unless this condition will jeopardize the life of mother. Ahmad Aleesh Maliki

states:

“The basis of abortion after the acquiring of soul (by the foetus) is prohibited and this is tantamount to take away life of a person.”26

In another view, according to the reply by the Dar al Ifta’ in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it was

categorically stated in the religious decree (fatwa) that abortion on such grounds could not be

23 Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim. Biomedical Issues in Islamic Perspective. (1993). (p. 146)24 Retrieved from: http://www.islamawareness.net/FamilyPlanning/Abortion/abortion_qanda.html25 Ibid.26 Qazi Mujahidul Islam Qasmi. Contemporary Medical Issues in Islamic Jurisprudence. (p. 132).

13

permitted.27 Islam does want to protect the society from defective child. However abortion is not

the solution to the problem. Rather, Islam will look at the problem from its root and solve it

accordingly. For example, in the case of mental retardation, it is affirm that most infants with the

foetal alcohol syndrome are mentally retarded i.e. the pregnant mother consumes alcohol during

pregnancy. Thus Islam prohibits the intake of alcohol absolutely. In the case of Down syndrome,

Dr ‘Omar S Alfi from Kuwait discovered that:

The frequence of a number of genetic disorders was significantly higher among offspring of consanguineous, as compared to non-consanguineous marriages. The most significant of these was the occurrence of Down Syndrome (Mongolism).28

Allah s.w.t. is beautiful and He likes beautiful things. He is very perfectionist in every of

His creation. But still there is existence of children with deformities and even inherit severe

disease genetically or not genetically. Why is this happened? If we ponder upon the unfortunate

child, in every of their cases there are lessons to mankind, to those who are healthy and born in a

perfect condition. The existence of them perhaps makes the healthy people become more humble

and feel gratitude to Allah by utilizing the perfect gift from Allah for the benefits of the

individual and to the ummah. Indeed Allah knows best what is right for His creation. As stated in

Al-Quran, chapter al-Mulk verse 14:

‘Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous (to His slaves), All-Aware (of everything).’29

27 ? Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim. Biomedical Issues in Islamic Perspective. (1993). (p. 146).28 Ibid. p. 147-148.

29 Muhammad Taqiud-Din al-Hilali, Muhammad Muhsin Khan. The Noble Qur’an English Translation of the Meanings. (p. 772).

14

It is important to bear in mind that the life-span of defective foetus is naturally short.

Thus taking their life before they are born is not the act of mercy, instead it is an oppression to

them. Moreover, with the advances in the biomedical technology, it is possible to treat some of

the deformities of the foetus.

Case 4: Abortion due to adultery

The attitude of Islam can be clearly understood if we explain a little bit on the issue of

sex. How actually Islam looks at sex between men and women? Does it allow free sex as long as

it is agreed upon by the two adult partners as is the case nowadays with most of the non-Muslims

nations so much so that the word "adultery" has been dropped from their dictionary?? Or does

Islam consider sex as a tremendous sin that will be punished by God in the hereafter?

The truth is neither of these extremes is accepted in Islam. In this religion, our God

prohibits sex either before or outside marriage. However, Islam honored sex in marriage and

elevated it to a haughty standard. Therefore, sex in Islam is not totally prohibited as long as it is

inside marriage. Even someone’s accomplishment of desires in a halal is considered ibadah and

rewarded from the Almighty God30. In one tradition the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "To

cohabit with your wife is charity." Hearing this Companion asked: "O Messenger of Allah. Is it

possible that each one of us will be rewarded when he satisfies his sexual desire?" He said: "Yes

indeed." Therefore, the Messenger of Allah concluded: "When he satisfies it lawfully he will be

rewarded for it." (Narrated by Muslim).

30 Arafat El-Ashi, Abortion & Islam (Canada), retrieved from http://www.crescentlife.com/family%20matters/islam_and_abortion.htm

15

Thus Islam does not look at sex as an end in itself, but as a means to an end. The end of

sex according to Islam is to have children. So, it is not permissible in Islam for a woman who

commits sin to have abortion simply because it is her wish to do so, in order to avoid the

responsibility. According to Imam Al-Ghazali in his well-known book, Ihya Ulumuddin briefly

stated that once the man’s semen undergo fertilization with woman’s ovum, and then enter into

the womb of the mother, it was considered as a living entity and the intentional abortion cannot

take place . It becomes an even worse sin as soon as the foetus progressively develops in the

womb. And the sin is like to kill a living entity31. “Take not life which Allah has made sacred”

(6:151; see also 4:29)32 “And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to

abide therein (for ever)” (4:93)33. Allah (SWT) went even further, making unlawful killing of a

single individual human being equal to mass murder of the whole of mankind. Thus, abortion is

prohibited because life should be respected from its very beginning. We mean by life here, the

life in its normal circumstances that are found in the mother's body34.

However, from the perspective of the Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein

Fadlullah, if the woman who became pregnant as a result of committing adultery or by a secret

marriage (Mutaa or another kind of marriages), it is permissible for her to abort herself if the

pregnancy puts her life in a difficulty and danger from the society she lives in. It is allowed to

have abortion on condition the fetus should not be in a stage in which he is considered to be

given the spirit, unless if the woman's life is in an absolute danger. Besides, it is impermissible to

31 Elsayed Kandil, Abortion in Islam, (Sydney, New South Wales), retrieved from http://www.famsy.com/salam/Abortion41.htm32 Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud Din Al-Hilali & Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an. (Brunei: Riyadh,Saudi Arabia, 1996), p. 29433 Ibid, p. 188.34 Atef A.Khalifa, MD & Charlene Strickland, RN, Islamic Perspective on Pro-Life Issue, retrieved from http://www.submission.org/pro-life.html

16

abort the child who is born as a result of adultery, just because he is an illegitimate child and

there is no justification for that, except in one case, that is if the mother is afraid on her life, such

as if her parents might kill her35.

In addition, Sheikh Yusof Al-Qardawi mentions in his legendary book, “The Lawful

and the Prohibited in Islam”: Islam allows preventing pregnancy for valid reasons, but

prohibiting them to terminate their babies once it happens. For instance, when someone commits

adultery and she might put herself in a severe and abnormal danger (such as to be killed by her

parents) if having pregnancy, she is advisable to prevent it rather than to kill it. This is supported

by the idea of Muslim jurists who have agreed in complete that after the fetus is entirely formed

and has been given a soul, abortion is haram. The commission of this crime is prohibited to the

Muslim because it is appointed as an offense against a complete and perfect, living human being.

There is another evidence to emphasize the prohibition of abortion in Islam. It

happened during Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It had been narrated by Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn

Burayda (may Allah be pleased with him) on the authority of his father. “Then came to the

Messenger of Allah (Allah blesses him & gives him peace) a woman from Ghamid and said: “O

Messenger of Allah! I have committed adultery, so purify me.” He (the Messenger of Allah)

turned her away. On the following day she said: “O Messenger of Allah! Why do you turn me

away? Perhaps, you turn me away as you turned away Ma’iz. By Allah, I have become

pregnant.” He (Allah blesses him & gives him peace) said: “Well, if you insist upon it, then go

away until you give birth to (the child).” When she delivered, she came to the Messenger of

Allah (Allah blesses him & gives him peace) with the child wrapped in a piece of cloth and said:

35 Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah, retrieved from http://english.bayynat.org.lb/Issues/Abortion.htm17

“Here is the child whom I have given birth to.” He (Allah blesses him & gives him peace) said:

“Go away and suckle him until you wean him.” When she had weaned him, she came to him

with the child who was holding a piece of bread in his hand and said: “O Prophet of Allah! Here

is the child, as I have weaned him and he eats food. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him &

give him peace) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And

she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. Khalid ibn

al-Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head and because of it blood spurted

on the face of Khalid and so he cursed her. The Messenger of Allah (Allah blesses him & gives

him peace) heard him (Khalid) cursing her, hence he said: “O Khalid, be gentle. By Him in

Whose Hand is my life, she has made such a repentance that even if a wrongful tax-collector

were to repent, he would have been forgiven. Then the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him &

give him peace) gave order regarding her, hence he prayed over her and she was buried36.

The above incident obviously demonstrates that pregnancy due to illegitimate sexual

intercourse should be carried on and cannot be terminated. It is due to the Messenger of Allah

(Allah bless him & give him peace) would have surely advised to the woman that to abort her

baby is definitely illegal in this religion. It would become clear that the punishment for this case

cannot be taken simply and easily in according to the panel law (stated in the Islamic literature).

A legal punishment (hadud) should be implemented as soon as possible in order to punish that

person. In spite of this, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give peace) instructed her to

wait until the child was born and be able to wean. He could have advised her to abort her feotus,

so that the legal punishment will be able to be carried out in a twinkling37.

36 Sahih Muslim, no:169537 Muhammad ibn Adam, Abortion dua to Pregnancy Resulting from Fornication (2005,UK), http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/aforn1.htm

18

This also stresses that abortion due to invalid sex is forbidden at all stages (except for the

cases that have been stated previously) whether the soul is blown into the foetus or vice versa.

This point is encouraged due to the proof where the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give

him peace) did not ask the woman as to how old was the pregnancy. It shows that no matter the

condition of the foetus, as long as it is present, it is considered haram to abort it. The baby does

not responsible to carry the sins of their parents even though it may be the result of adultery or

fornication and unlawful sex. Islam rejects the ideas of some religions which claimed that the

baby (resulted from immoral relationships) should be banned. Islam on the other hand elevates

the status of the baby and considers him/her as a normal and unsinful one like others38.

And then when it comes to the morality aspect, if abortion is permissible in this world,

unwanted pregnancy become more vulnerable and could be terrifyingly high. The case of

abortion will increase rapidly from day to day due to its legitimacy. In the past, the cases of

unwanted pregnancy rarely happened as they were more careful in committing adultery. Women

were afraid to have a baby outside marriage. Men were also influenced by that situation; lead

them to be stress to take this great responsibility. So, in order to prevent pregnancy, they did not

commit such sin (adultery) or decide to have a protection before doing it. Fear and respect seem

to motivate people to be more responsible toward their behaviors39.

However, nowadays due to the validity of abortion, everything becomes easy. For them,

they just undergo abortion without thinking too much. They stop being responsible for the

abortion that they have done. Just as abortion demands that women violate their very nature as a

mother, it forces men to reject their role as provider and protector40.They become so cruel to kill 38 Ibid39 W. Jessica, C. Trudy & H. Catherina ,Abortion’s Impact on Society (2003), retrieved from http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=3109&department=CWA&categoryid=life40 Siegel, R.V., The New Politics of Abortion (2007), p.24

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the unborn babies without considering their status as the creations of God. In a single word, the

social problem among the teenagers or adults becomes much more common if the abortion is

permissible in this world, and thus leads to the destruction of morality among the society41.

Like Allah says in his Book about the one whom committing adultery."O Prophet! When

believing women come to you to give the Bai’ah (pledge), that they will not associate anything

in worship with Allah, that they will not steal, that they will not commit illegal sexual intercourse

(adultery or fornication), that they will not kill their children, that they will not utter slander,

intentionally forging falsehood, and that they will not disobey you in Ma’ruf,- then accept their

Bai’ah (pledge), and ask Allah to forgive them (of their sins): Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving,

Most Merciful42.  (The Noble Quran, 60:12)"

It totally denotes that the women are prohibited to kill their babies. If they still with their

intention to do abortion, it unanimously violates the God’s command that asks every human

being to take care and behave kindly with all their sons and daughters. They all have the right to

see this wonderful and breathtaking universe and also to be Allah’s vicegerent on this earth.

Conclusion

From psychological impart, abortion is considered as a forbidden grief because it can

torment women in a high number of ways. Many women are traumatized by their abortion

experience. Some prefer to commit suicide, some feel shame and anger, and some feel guilty and

41W. Jessica, C. Trudy & H. Catherina, Abortion’s Impact on Society (2003), retrieved from http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=3109&department=CWA&categoryid=life42 Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud Din Al-Hilali & Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Interpretation of The Meanings of The Noble Qur’an. (Brunei: Riyadh,Saudi Arabia, 1996). (p. 1088).

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even physically abuse them. Even if they appear to have a normal of life, they actually spend

hours in private and then cry to free themselves from the feelings of despair, sad and

abandonment. When they pregnant again in order to have that replacement baby, they realize that

the circumstances that motivated the earlier abortion are still there, and the effect is they get

another abortion. All these possible feelings make a woman to be stress all through of her life.

They tend to become abnormal and feel either not worthy to become a mother since they choose

to kill their beloved child or to have poor relationships with their new children because of

reminders of the past abortion43.

Islam is a religion of peace and happiness thus; Islamic shari’ah preserves all the basic of

human rights. Among the most important right of human is the sanctity of one’s life. Therefore,

the shari’ah is against abortion in all cases except when it is confirmed to be a danger to the

mother’s life if she does not abort. This shows that Islam is a practical and easy religion, besides

being strict and persistent in preserving the sanctity of human life even though if it is concerning

a mere small and mute fetus. Islam encourages marriage, providing sustenance and maintaining a

good health in order to protect the human life. However, it also has protective measures through

prohibitions and punishment; as in this case, to avoid abortion, Islam prohibits adultery and

anything that leads to it such as close proximity and limitless interaction between men and

women. Aside from that, Islam prohibits any attack on human life without legal justification such

as homicide, suicide and injuries. Due to severe problems that these sins bring in the present and

in the generations to come, Islam has drawn just punishments for those who commit them such

as the law of Qisas and Hudud. By taking the comprehensive Islamic teachings in one’s life, one

43 Beckman, B., Psychological Impact of Abortion on Women, retrieved from http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/2003_2_Psychological_Impact.htm

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can lead a happy and peaceful life without the problem of abortion bothering and haunting their

lives, leading to a peaceful and strong society as a whole.

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