Islam and Abortion
http://www.islamatschool.org.uk/GC/GCSETopicsPages/Abortion.htm
"Then we developed the drop into a hanging (embryo), then developed the hanging (embryo) into
a bite-size (fetus), then created the bite-size (fetus) into bones, then covered the bones with flesh.
We thus produce (Anshaa) a new creature. Most blessed is GOD, the best Creator." [Qur'an
23:14]
"Kill not your children for fear of want; it is We who provide sustenance for them as well as for
you; for verily killing them is a great sin". (Chapter 17, Verse 31)
"Losers are those who killed their children foolishly, due to their lack of knowledge, and prohibited
what God has provided for them, and followed innovations attributed to God. They have gone
astray, they are not guided." (6:140)
"Say: Come, I will rehearse what God has really prohibited you from: Join nothing as equal with
Him; be good to your parents, kill not your children on a plea of poverty; We provide sustenance
for you and for them; approach not shameful deeds, whether open or secret; take not life, which
God has made sacred, except by a way of justice and law" (Chapter 6, Verse 151).
The name God chose for His first revelation was "The hanging embryo" 'Al-'Alaq', Sura 96. This
hanging embryo stage starts about 6 days after the fertilization of the ovum.
Islamic Teaching :
The Qur'an clearly condemns both the killing of born and unborn children. The first
quote is actually a celebration of God creating life, forming an embryo a short time ( a
matter of days) after its conception.
However, Muslim scholars agree that the foetus becomes a human being after 120 days
of conception. According to them, the whole period of pregnancy can be divided into two
stages: the first 120 days, and the remaining period before childbirth. Most traditional
Muslim jurists claim that it is permissible to have an abortion for valid reasons during the
first stage. This is largely based on this famous Hadith:
The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Each of you is constituted in your mother's womb for forty
days as a nutfah, then it becomes an 'alaqah for an equal period, then a mudghah for
another equal period, then the angel is sent and he breathes the soul into it."
A modern Muslim female writer puts it like this:
In Islam abortions are encouraged only if the pregnancy threatens the well-being of the
mother. It is forbidden to sacrifice the mother's life for the fetus. Here again the practice
of abortion is prescribed with limitations. The soul in the Islamic tradition develops after
the fetus moves in the womb. The distinction between movement and life in Islam is very
clear. The fetus moves, during the second trimester (precisely after 120 days of
pregnancy). Abortion, as a result, is permitted during the first 120 days, i.e. before the
soul develops. (By Nawal H. Ammar, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Kent State
University/Trumbull. See http://www.consultation.org/consultation/ammar.htm#population)
Exceptions?
It is a grave sin to take the life of children for fear of want (poverty) as was the habit
during the period before Islam in Arabia. Neither is it allowed to do so for any other
reason unless a great evil is caused by the presence of the foetus that may cause the death
of the mother.
(From our Recommended link-ISLAM & ABORTION by Dr. Arafat El Ashi http://www.momin.com/abortion/This is an intelligent and concise argument.)
Women who get divorced have an interim of three months before getting married again.
This is done MAINLY to see if they are pregnant or not. God then orders them to forget
their own wishes and plans and respect the new life created in their wombs. If the first
three months of pregnancy were not important God would have told these women not to
wait and to have abortion and keep their life plans as they wish.
God cares about the whole three months of early pregnancy as much as we can see from
the Quran’s treatment of the divorce cases. God named his first revelation after the
hanging embryo, not by accident. This hanging embryo, is a stage that starts in 6 days
after the fertilization of the ovum. (From a well written article showing a good
knowledge of Qur'anic Arabic at-http://www.submission.org/abortion.html)
There has always, therefore, been a debate in Islam over this question. The majority of
orthodox Muslims (following the Hanafi school) in later centuries, allowed abortion until
the end of the four months. According to them, a pregnant woman could have an abortion
without her husband's permission, but she should have reasonable grounds for this act.
Most of the Maliki jurists (legal scholars) described abortion as completely forbidden. In
their view, when the semen settles in the womb, it is expected to develop into a living
baby and it should not be disturbed by anyone. According to Ibn Jawziyyah, when the
womb has retained the semen, it is not permitted for the husband and wife, or one of them
or the master of the slave-wife, to induce an abortion. After ensoulment, however,
abortion is prohibited absolutely and is akin to murder.
(For more detail see a pro-Abortion Muslim article which exposes the complex history of
this question:- Family Planning and Islam: A Review by Khalid Farooq Akbar at
http://www.muslim-canada.org/family.htm)
Conclusions:
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 Some Muslims today stand by the Qur'anic commands never to kill children
or - by interpretation- unborn children. For them, the Qur'an's celebration of life in
the womb as an embryo is enough. Abortion is a sinful act. 'Take not life, which
Allah has made sacred...'
However, even for most Muslims who believe this, the exception to this rule is
when the mother's life is threatened and an abortion is necessary. (This exception
has always been encouraged in Islam as the mother's life takes precedence). The
Qur'an explicitly forbids exceptions like killing a child for economic reasons or
for convenience: "killing" a child for fear of food (rizq).
Many Muslims today follow the Islamic tradition (Hadith and Legal rulings) and
argue that abortion is an evil but is permitted up to 120 days when Allah 'ensouls'
the foetus. After this time it is forbidden.