QUESTION:

What do the scholars of the Din and muftis of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: what does Islam say about abortion? If the foetus was formed as a result of rape, and the family does not agree to the birth of the child, then can it be aborted?

Questioner: Tayyib from Blackburn, UK

ANSWER:

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب

A foetus gets life when it is nearly four months old. Therefore, Islam considers the abortion of a foetus, which is older than four months, to be murder and haram (prohibited). What is the crime of the child if rape happened, that it should be killed for it? If the foetus is four-month-old, then it should not be aborted, even if the entire family does not agree to the birth of the child. Aborting the foetus would be considered murder and Allah ﷻ states regarding murder,

وَمَنۡ یَّقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَآؤُہٗ جَہَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِیۡہَا وَغَضِبَ اللہُ عَلَیۡہِ وَلَعَنَہٗ وَاَعَدَّ لَہٗ عَذَابًا عَظِیۡمًا

“If anyone kills a believer deliberately, the punishment for him is Hell, and there he will remain: Allah is angry with him, and rejects him, and has prepared a tremendous torment for him.”

[Surah al-Nisa’, 93]

Moreover, Allah ﷻ says that killing one person is similar to killing the entire mankind. He ﷻ stated in the Noble Qur’an,

مَنۡ قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَیۡرِ نَفْسٍ اَوْ فَسَادٍ فِی الۡاَرْضِ فَکَاَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِیۡعًا ؕ وَمَنْ اَحْیَاہَا فَکَاَنَّمَاۤ اَحْیَا النَّاسَ جَمِیۡعًا

“If anyone kills a person— unless in retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land— it is as if he kills all mankind, while if any saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind.”

[Surah al-Ma’idah, 32]

It is haram to abort a foetus which is four-month-old because it has life in it. Aborting a foetus which is of lesser than four months is permissible if done out of necessity.

It is mentioned in Fatāwā Fayz al-Rasūl that a four-month-old foetus has life in it; aborting it is harām and the one who does so is a murderer. If the foetus is aborted before it turns four months old, then there is no problem in doing so, if done out of necessity.

[Fatāwā Fayz al-Rasūl, vol 2, pg 552]

واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری

Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri

Translated by the SeekersPath Team

Read the original Urdu answer here – [Q-ID0353] What is the Islamic ruling on abortion due to rape?

Also see:

[Q-ID0538] One of my roles as a gynaecologist involves performing abortions, will I be sinful for this?

[Q-ID0523] What is the Islamic ruling on using contraception?

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