Fatwa ID: 08423

 

 

Written by: Mufti Muhammad Altaf Hossen

 

Question:

 

A sister gave birth via c section 7 months ago. The c section was troublesome due to the doctors having to push the baby back up in order to carry out the operation. They advised that at least 12 months should pass before another pregnancy in order to ensure safety. However the sister is pregnant after 7 months and upon inspection the doctors have said the scar tissue has not healed and there is a high chance of urinary rupture and potential death if the pregnancy is continued. She is currently 5 weeks pregnant, is there permissibility for an abortion?

 

 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

Answer:

 

In Islam normally abortion is haram. Allah SWT said:

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُم مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُم

 

“Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you.”

 

The basic principle is that it is not permissible to abort a woman’s pregnancy at any stage except for a legitimate Shar`i reason. If the pregnancy is still a Nutfah (drop), i.e., forty days or less, and if aborting it will serve a Shar`i interest or ward off some harm that may affect the mother, it is permissible to abort it in this case . That does not include fears of hardship incurred by raising children or not being able to pay their expenses or to educate them , or being content with a certain number of children, or other excuses that are not acceptable according to Shari`ah. 

 

But if the pregnancy has lasted for more than forty days, it is prohibited to abort it , because after forty days it becomes an ‘Alaqah (clot) which is the beginning of a person. It is not permissible to abort it after it reaches this stage, unless a trustworthy council of doctors agrees that continuing the pregnancy poses a threat to the life of the mother, and there is the fear that she may die if the pregnancy continues. Allah SWT said:

وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ

بِأَيِّ ذَنْبٍ قُتِلَتْ

 

When the girl, buried alive, is asked

For what crime was she killed?

 (4)

 

Some Muslim scholars have different opinions on what stage abortion is forbidden, some said from the moment the woman knows she is pregnant she can not have an abortion unless her life is in danger, and this is the position of the majority. and others said after forty days it becomes forbidden and others said after 120 days the soul will not be blown into the body before that time. 

(2)

 

The Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia 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. (3)

So, abortion becomes forbidden, even in the presence of fetal abnormalities; the exception being a risk to the mother’s life or confirmed intrauterine death.

 

Therefore, your aborting the pregnancy after one and a half months based on justification means that you committed a forbidden action, so you have to repent sincerely from that and not do such a thing again in the future.” 

 

Narrated `Abdullah bin Mus’ud:  Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), the true and truly inspired said, “(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature’s) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed into him. So, a man amongst you may do (good deeds till there is only a cubit between him and Paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire. And similarly a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise.” (2)

 

This hadith forms the basis for Fiqhi stages of fetal development, with significant rulings tied to the 40, 80, and 120-day marks. With the expert Muslim physician opinion on emergency is allowed from life threat to save the life.

 

 

References:

 

(1)

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُم مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُم (Surah al-Isra (17:31)

 

(2)

Sahihul Bukhari 3208, sunnah.com

، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهْوَ الصَّادِقُ الْمَصْدُوقُ قَالَ

 ‏ “‏ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَلَكًا، فَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعِ كَلِمَاتٍ، وَيُقَالُ لَهُ اكْتُبْ عَمَلَهُ وَرِزْقَهُ وَأَجَلَهُ وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيدٌ‏.‏ ثُمَّ يُنْفَخُ فِيهِ الرُّوحُ، فَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ مِنْكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجَنَّةِ إِلاَّ ذِرَاعٌ، فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ كِتَابُهُ، فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ، وَيَعْمَلُ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ النَّارِ إِلاَّ ذِرَاعٌ، فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ، فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ ‏”‏‏.‏

 

(3)

The name of the book:  الفتاوى العالمكيرية المعروفة بالفتاوى الهندية

The  name of the writer :
المؤلف: جماعة من العلماء
برئاسة الشيخ: نظام الدين البرنهابوري البلخي
بأمر السلطان: محمد أورنك زيب عالمكير
الطبعة: الثانية، ١٣١٠ هـ بيروت وغيرها)

 

Chapter : كتاب الجنايات

Bab:الباب العاشر في الجنين

Maktab Shamila

مَوْرُوثًا عَنْ الْوَلَدِ وَلَوْ كَانَ الضَّارِبُ وَارِثًا لَمْ يَرِثْ، وَلَا كَفَّارَةَ فِيهِ كَذَا فِي السِّرَاجِيَّة.

وَإِنْ أَلْقَتْ مَيِّتَيْنِ فَغُرَّتَانِ كَذَا فِي خِزَانَةِ الْمُفْتِينَ وَالْجَنِينُ الَّذِي قَدْ اسْتَبَانَ بَعْضُ خَلْقِهِ كَالظُّفْرِ وَالشَّعْرِ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْجَنِينِ التَّامِّ فِي جَمِيعِ الْأَحْكَامِ كَذَا فِي الْكَافِي وَإِنْ خَرَجَ الْجَنِينُ بَعْدَ الضَّرْبَةِ حَيًّا ثُمَّ مَاتَ فَفِيهِ الدِّيَةُ كَامِلَةً وَالْكَفَّارَةُ كَذَا فِي الْمَبْسُوطِ.

إنْ أَلْقَتْ مَيِّتًا ثُمَّ مَاتَتْ الْأُمُّ فَعَلَيْهِ دِيَةٌ

 

(4) Sura  Takwir, 8-9

 

 

Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.

Written by Mufti Muhammad Altaf Hossen

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham