Abortion in Islam
By Elsayed Kandil (lecture given in
Australia)
Many Muslims in Australia and
elsewhere, raise the question of
abortion in Islam. Sometimes
misinformation is worse than
ignorance. It is therefore useful
to shed some light on this issue
from an Islamic
perspective.Hum

ans are the most
favoured creation of the Creator,
Allah (swt): "And indeed We have
honoured the children of Adam,
carried them on land and sea,
gave them lawful, pure
provisions, and greatly preferred
them above many of those We
have created." (Al-Isra,17:70)
Among these signs of Allah’s
favour on the children of Adam,
is the sacred value Allah (swt)
assigns to the life of a human
being. When that value was
violated with the first unlawful
murder of a human being on
earth, when one of Adam’s sons
killed his own brother out of
malice, Allah (swt) condemned
that act and put it on record in
the Quran as a reminder, to be
recited until the Day of
Judgement.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)
Some Muslims argue that
abortion is permissible if the
foetus is younger than four
months (120 days). They quote a
statement from the Prophet (s)
that refers to a human being
starting as a fertilised 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 foetus 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 foetus at
120 days, the foetus is not a
living entity, and therefore
aborting it does not amount to
killing it. This understanding is
wrong, scholars argue, because
the foetus is a living entity right
from the moment of fertilisation
and implantation on the wall of
the uterus. Scholars explain that
the Ruh mentioned in this hadith
of the Prophet (s) is something
other than being alive and only
Allah (swt) knows what it is,
based on the verse in the Quran:
"And they ask you about the Ruh.
The Ruh is one of the things the
knowledge of which is only with
my Lord, and you, mankind, have
been given only little
knowledge." (Al-Isra,17:85)It
therefore becomes clear that
aborting a foetus before 120
days is still killing a living entity,
let alone abortion after that
presumed period.
The only case when aborting a
foetus, 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 foetus 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. A fatwa
(legal ruling) to that effect was
issued by the late Dr Mahmoud
Shaltut, Shaikhul Azhar (Al-
Fatawa, p164).Imam Al-Ghazali
discussed this issue in his
famous book, Ihya Ulumuddin.
Briefly, he asserted that once the
semen from a man fertilised an
ovum from a woman, and went
into the womb of the mother, it
was indeed a living entity and
should not be intentionally
aborted. As the foetus
progressively develops in the
womb, intentional abortion
becomes an even worse sin
amounting to killing a living
entity. In some schools of Islamic
thought, causing a foetus to be
accidentally aborted, say by
beating a pregnant mother,
results in payment of the blood
money penalty equal to one-
tenth of that paid for mistakenly
killing a mature human being.
Living in Australia, Muslims are
exposed to all kinds of false
arguments, including media
reports in all forms and shapes,
about a female having full
authority on what to do with her
body, including becoming
pregnant through adultery and /
or aborting an undesirable
pregnancy. In Islam, freedom is
not absolute. It is qualified by
conditions set by Allah (swt) and
His Messenger (s). Being aware
of Islam becomes even more of
an obligation to a Muslim living in
Australia.
It helps to remember what our
beloved Prophet, Rasulullah (s),
did when a woman came to him
confessing that she was
pregnant from adultery, although
she was married. Her remorse
and atonement for the sin was
stronger than the fear from the
penalty of being stoned to death.
Rasulullah (s) first tried to verify
that she was indeed confessing
to the sin, and after she insisted,
he sent her back to wait until she
gave birth to the child. With true
intention of being purified and
punished in this world rather
than in the Hereafter, she
returned carrying a newborn
child. Again, Rasulullah (s) sent
her back to look after the child
until the child was weaned. She
later returned with the child
eating a piece of bread in his
hand.Only then Rasulullah (s)
ordered that she be stoned to
death as ordained by Allah (swt).
The punishment was carried out
with true commitment to Islamic
Law in an Islamic State ruled by
Rasulullah (s). When some of her
blood stained one of the
companions, he cursed her.
Rasulullah (s) stopped him saying
that she has truly repented, so
much so that if her repentance
were to be distributed to all the
residents of Madinah, it would
have been sufficient to wipe out
all of their sins.
This is Islam, in all its mercy,
humanity and firmness.