IS ABORTION PERMISSIBLE IN ISLAM?

Q: Is abortion allowed just because a couple ‘has completed their family’ and wants no
more children?

A: Let us reverse the question: Is abortion categorically forbidden in the Quran? The
answer is NO!

7:33 Say, “My Lord forbids only: Indecent shameful deeds, open or secret, actions that
hurt the ‘self’ and drag down the individual and collective human potential, unjust
aggression, associating others with God (Shirk), for which He has sent down no
authority, and that you say things about God that you do not know.”

Elective abortion does not belong to any of the above. However, my capital NO is an
answer with a strict qualification or condition. The abortion must be performed by
competent medical staff so that the mother’s health is not endangered. [2:195, 4:29, 5:32,
6:151] … This QA is an excellent example of how the fine details of Quranic commands
can keep adapting to the changing times and different environments. If Dr. Shabbir lived
in the 19th century, or even today in a village without competent medical care, he would
be guided by the same Quran to say NO to abortion by choice.

The Quran forbids KILLING of CHILDREN for fear of poverty, that’s all.

6:151 — Neither kill your children for fear of poverty nor deprive them of proper training
and education. We provide for you and for them —

[QATL, in addition to killing, means to humiliate, to bring low, rearing children badly
such that their future is jeopardized.]

Obviously, this is not abortion. But ask any cleric and he would try to thrust his own
opinion countering the Quran. Through the same verse, the clerics declare Haraam even
contraception since they can find no prohibition of it in the Book!

Interestingly, there is a nasty forged Bukhari Hadith which the Mullahs consider
authentic, but ignore here: A man inquired, “We earn income from these bondwomen,
(other narratives mention prostitution) so can we do ‘Azl (Withdrawal or Coitus
interruptus) with them?” The Prophet (S) said, “There is no sin in doing that.” [Kitabul
Qadr, the Book of Destiny, 3:543 #1514].

The most famous Mullah of the 20th century, Maududi, comments on this Hadith that it
is alright for a master to marry off a slave girl to another man while using her for all
personal services except sex. [Tafhim Vol 1 Pg 340]
Lane’s error: Edward Lane, on this subject, translates WALAD as an unborn child. But It
always means a little boy or son, and not an unborn child, a girl or daughter. Please
reflect that the sex of the fetus could not be determined until recently.

As a rule, where the Quran ignores a situation, it is not because Allah forgot to mention
it. Rather, in His infinite Wisdom and Mercy, He left minor details open for human
beings to decide according to changing times. If He intended to include the unborn fetus
in 6:151, He could have easily used terms like ‘ALAQA’ (Embryo) or MUDHGHAH
(Fetus). Or, He could have said: Do not kill MA FIL ARHAAM (What is in the wombs).

23:14 Then We fashioned the gametes into zygote, then a leech-like mass of flesh, then
the hanging little lump, the embryo. Then We created bones within the embryonic lump,
and then clothed the bones with flesh, designing it into the fetus. And then We made it a
new creation (the human infant). So Blessed is God, The Best of creators.

There can be nothing wrong with abortion when the mother’s or the fetus’ health would
be endangered. Severe cardiac problems, eclampsia, epilepsy, or schizophrenia in the
mother - and Down’s syndrome, AIDS, incurable neurological disorders and other
serious diseases in the fetus diagnosed before birth through sonogram and/or
amniocentesis are a few examples. Considering the profound emotional trauma, a
pregnancy through rape will easily qualify for abortion.

Look here at the prayer taught to us for a healthy baby.

7:189 —. As she grows heavy with the child, they both (husband and wife) implore God,
their Lord, “If you grant us a healthy baby, we shall certainly be among the grateful.” —.

Furthermore, the Quran shows us even prophets praying for a healthy child.

3:38 This was when Zakariya prayed to his Lord, “My Lord! Bestow upon me from Your
Presence the gift of goodly, healthy offspring. You are the Hearer of prayer.”

Dr. Shabbir,
A life-long student