A Matter of Soul: Abortion in Islam, Part I

Holli Herdeg writes,

Recently, for a course in world religions required by my high school, I had the opportunity to research and write a paper on the Islamic view of abortion– personally, I found it fascinating. As a sort of maiden post, I thought to share it in a set of two parts– at the very least, that’s how many sections I expect this paper to require. We’ll see.

Islam stands with Judaism and Christianity as one of the three great monotheistic religions. Its adherents number over one billion[1] and are spread out across the globe. Known for its conservatism, as the abortion campaign becomes ever more important in the West, the question arises of how Islam views abortion. According to the earliest Islamic tradition—and now, the more liberal factions of Islamic scholars, abortion is permissible before the one-hundred and twentieth day of pregnancy[2], but not after. However, conservative Islamic scholars, upon closer examination of both the Qur’an, the hadiths, and the writings of the imams, have determined that after the implantation of the fetus in the uterus, the potential for ensoulment is enough to place a ban on abortion, save for cases in which the mother’s life is in danger.

Ensoulment is defined by Arif Abdul Hussain as the entrance of the spirit, or ruh[3], into the growing fetus, and also as “the beginning of the potential for rational thought”[4]—rational thought, being, according to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the primary characteristic of the “human soul.”[5] To Islamic thought, our human existence is dependent on three factors: life, which is defined as “an expression of knowledge and ability,”[6] soul, and ruh. Life is also defined by Rida al-Sadr as “an expression of mobility and reproduction.”[7] Combining the two definitions, any plant or animal also lives, and to make the legality of abortion dependant on whether or not something is living also causes one to question the killing of animals and the eating of plants—thus, the potential for life is neither enough to condemn nor support abortion. The soul, the second aspect of existence, is divided into four types: the vegetative, the animal, the rational human soul, and the divine soul.[8] The soul is the ability to perceive and synthesize; the vegetative soul “retain[s], absorb[s], digest[s], repel[s], and grow[s],” [9]and is thus the lowest form of the soul. Like the name suggests, plants fulfill this requirement. The next type of soul, the animal, consists of the five senses, while the human soul is cognizant and is marked by its ability to remember[10]; finally, the divine, or “Godly” soul is persistent, “find[s] felicity in misfortune, dignity in humility, needlessness in poverty, and perseverance in calamities.”[11] In humans, who claim the first three types of souls, the entering of the ruh triggers the emergence of the appropriate souls.

The idea of ruh comes directly from the Qur’an, which states “But He fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him something of His spirit.” (Surah 32:9)[12] In the Arabic, the word “spirit” is translated from the term ruh, which is used in other instances in the Qur’an, such as the creation of Adam and the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb, to describe a life-giving spirit. [13] This coming of the ruh marks the time known as ensoulment, as at that point, the already living (as it fulfills the requirements for life by growing) fetus receives the potential for rationality, which then defines the fetus as potentially human. In Islam, the murder of a human being for any reason beyond that which justice requires bears a heavy consequence. For, “if anyone [slays] a person—unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” (Surah 5:32)[14]

Therefore, debate rings through the Muslim world as to when exactly ensoulment occurs. The traditional one-hundred and twenty day period before ensoulment comes from the Qur’anic description of the stages of gestation and a hadith—sayings or actions of the Prophet Mohammed—which states that “a human being is put together in the womb of the mother for forty days, and then becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period… then the soul is breathed into him.”[15] This “breath[ing]” of the “soul” is the ensoulment. From a legal standpoint, this one-hundred and twentieth day also marks the evolution of a fetus from another creature entirely to a human being—at this point, the blood money required after an abortion will “have to be paid in accordance with its gender since at that time it is a full human being.”[16]

However, prior to this time, due to the fetus’ potential for rational thought (humanhood) and ensoulment, Islamic law demands a lesser amount of diya (blood money), consistent with the stages of pregnancy[17] described by the Qur’an, in Surah 23:12-14[18].  For a nuftah (sperm or fertilized ovum), the penalty is 20 dinars; for the clot of blood, or ‘alaquah, it is forty dinars. For the muzgah, or lump of flesh, sixty dinars; when the bones have formed, ‘azm, eighty dinars, and finally, when flesh appears on the bones (yaksu lahman), it is one hundred dinars.[19] [20] This potentiality also carries weight in regards to inheritance: from the point of conception on, a child is considered an inheritor, unless it is stillborn[21]. If a “newborn has raised its voice (and then dies), it is treated as an heir.”[22] From this it is evident that, legally, the potential to become a rational human being is enough to accord the fetus the rights of a human being (though, as in the case of the diya, these rights may be adapted to fit the situation.) According to Islamic law, then, a fetus is a potential child—and “verily, the killing of [your children] is a great sin.” (Surah 17:31)[23] And as the diya of an aborted child increases with each consecutive stage, it is

“indicat[ed] that abortion is unlawful and implies that the potentiality for ensoulment within the foetus is a determining factor in prohibiting abortion.. so that we note an increase in the penalty as the growing foetus approaches the stage of ensoulment.”[24]

With this then in mind, it is important to examine the first stage of the pregnancy which holds the diya, because it is this stage that defines the point from which abortion is prohibited. The term nuftah, which means both a sperm and a fertilized ovum, is the one in question; according to its definition, as given by Imam Zaynu ‘l-‘Abidin, abortion is forbidden as soon as the fetus has “settled down” in the womb—in other words, as soon as it has been implanted in the uterus.[25] Thus, as abortion is prohibited prior to ensoulment, it can be concluded that it is the potential for ensoulment, and not the ensoulment itself, that secures one’s right to life. After this potentiality has been established—that is, once the fetus has been implanted in the uterus, abortion is prohibited by Islamic law and the Qur’an.

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[1] Gordon, Matthew S. Islam: Origins, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Persons, Sacred Places. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print. Pg. 9.

[2] Syed, Ibrahim B. Abortion in Islam. IRFI. Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.

[3] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.

[4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11] ibid.

[12] The Qur’an. Trans. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. Elmhurst: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., 2008. Print. Pg. 272.

[13] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.

[14] The Qur’an. Trans. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. Elmhurst: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., 2008. Print. Pg. 67.

[15] Bukhari, Sahih. Hadith. Trans. Khan, M. Muhsin. University of Southern California: Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement.Vol. 4. Book 54 Num. 430. University of Southern California. n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2009.

[16] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.

[17] Rizvi, Sayyid Muhammed. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Scarborough: Islamic Education & Information Centre, n.d. Web.

[18] Qur’an. Trans. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. Elmhurst: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., 2008. Print. Pgs. 219-220.

[19] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.

[20] Rizvi, Sayyid Muhammed. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Scarborough: Islamic Education & Information Centre, n.d. Web.

[21] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.

[22] Asqualani, Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-. Bulugh Al-Maram. Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam Publications, 1996. Print. Pg. 336.

[23] Qur’an. Trans. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. Elmhurst: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., 2008. Print. Pg. 178.

[24] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.

[25] Rizvi, Sayyid Muhammed. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Scarborough: Islamic Education & Information Centre, n.d. Web.