There are situations in Islam, however, where abortion is permitted, and indeed recommended. Different Muslim branches have different beliefs about abortion, however all the main ones recognise that it is necessary at times, and nearly all accept that after 120 days, the only reason for aborting a baby is if the life of the mother is in danger.
This is because until the baby is born, the mother has more responsibilities, and has already got an established place in the world. She has duties, she has a family, and the likelihood is that both mother and baby would die if no action was taken. The mother is also the ‘originator’ of the foetus. The amalgamation of these factors leads to Muslims seeing protecting the mother, and aborting the baby as the ‘less of the two evils’, a common principle in Sharia law.
Another common situation about abortion is where the family aborts a baby under the pretence that it would not be able to provide for the baby properly – a pretence not accepted in Islam. The Qur’an specifies that abortion cannot be undertaken because of the family fearing a lack of resources to care for it – Allah will provide for them.
‘Kill not your offspring for fear of poverty; it is We who provide for them and for you. Surely, killing them is a great sin.’
(17:32)
This ruling also extends to other financial or social problems, such as the baby being unplanned, or that it would interfere with the family’s/mother’s plans for later life, such as career.
Abortion for the baby’s sake is a hotly disputed discussion in many religions, and is probably even more so in Islam. Different scholars give different opinions, and because different scholars have different opinions of the actual abortion age, the process of choosing abortion for the sake of the baby is one which should be carefully considered. However, there is an almost unanimous decision that abortion after 120 days, for the baby’s sake, is not permissible, unless the illness/defect in the baby would put the mother at risk.
Another opinion is that if the defect is discovered early, and is thought by two competent medical specialists to have a physical and/or mental deformity that would great reduce the quality of the child’s life, then an abortion before 120 days would be permissible. This opinion is agreed with by several prominent scholars. A slightly more hard-line view agrees with all those cirumstances, barring the child’s actual deformity. These scholars take the opinion that the child’s suffering must be untreatable and cause great suffering to him, in order to abort the child.
Iran is politically and religiously governed by Ayatollah Ali Khameni, who the Shi’ite branch of Muslims believe to be the leader of all Muslims on earth currently. Recently, in Iran, he passed a ‘fatwa’ or Islamic law, to permit abortion for foetuses fewer than 10 weeks shown to have the Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes severe anaemia, and eventually leads to death.
Another Ayatollah of Iran, Yusuf Saanei issued another fatwa permitting abortion in the first three months for various reasons. Saanei claimed that abortion was generally forbidden in Islam, but claimed that;
‘But Islam is also a religion of compassion, and if there are serious problems, God sometimes doesn't require his creatures to practice his law. So under some conditions--such as parents' poverty or overpopulation--then abortion is allowed’
While Yusuf Saanei’s words apply to Shi’ite Muslims, they may be considered untrue to other branches of Islam. Therefore, the source that is heavily used is the decision of the Islamic World League, who passed a fatwa in February 1990. Abortion was allowed in cases where the foetus was
grossly malformed with untreatable severe condition proved by medical investigations and decided upon by a committee formed by competent trustworthy physicians, and provided that abortion is requested by the parents and the foetus is less than 120 days computed from moment of conception.
Another situation in which abortion is considered by people is rape. This is another controversial topic, where some people who would not normally allow abortion would make an exception. Some scholars claim that all life should be valued, whether the embryo is ‘the result of fornication with relatives or non-relatives or valid marriage. In Sharia life has the same value in all cases.’
However, a fatwa was issued to Bosnian women permitting abortion, when the Serbian army openly raped them. A similar fatwa was passed in a similar terrible situation in Algeria. Egypt, a prominent Islamic and Middle Eastern country (traditionally against abortion) issued a law that raped women were allowed abortions. This was a very controversial decision, causing controversy and many differences of opinion.
One area where there is no controversy is where an unwanted pregnancy is caused because of unforced adultery – Islam does not permit adultery, and pregnancy is seen as a consequence of this.
