My apologies for taking so long to get part II up, but here it is. In this section, I examined any and all exceptions that Islam allows to their no-abortion policy.
With this restriction in place, are there any exceptions to the prohibition of abortion? All Muslims agree upon the point that ensoulment occurs around one-hundred and twenty days into the pregnancy. Hanafi scholars, however, whose views are predominant in Turkey, the Middle East, and Central Asia[1], “permi[t] abortion until the end of the fourth month… but [the mother] should have reasonable grounds for this act”[2]—example reasons being the presence of another child who still requires a wet nurse[3], while a majority of past Malki jurists described abortion as “completely forbidden.”[4] But even among those groups which expressly forbid abortion, all agree that it is allowed in cases where the mother’s life is put in danger because of the pregnancy —or if the pregnancy would cause difficulties prior to ensoulment, according to Ayatullah Sane’i[5]—due to the principles of the lesser of two evils[6] and the alleviation of distress[7].
The lesser of two evils, known in Islamic law as al-ahamm wa ‘l-muhimm (the more important and the less important), applies to situations in which either the mother or the fetus will survive, and not both. If such a situation occurs pre-ensoulment, the abortion of the fetus is considered the lesser of the two evils, as it is not yet human, but merely has the potential to become one. If the danger is discovered after ensoulment, again the abortion of the fetus is considered the lesser of the two evils because the mother is a fully grown human.[8] She may be able to bear more children, but the fetus “cannot make up for losing the mother.”[9]
The second of the exceptions, the principle of the alleviation of distress (nafy al-haraj) comes from the Qur’an and the hadith, particularly such verses as Surah 2:233, which states that “no soul shall have a burden laid on it greater than it can bear.”[10] In discussing the alleviation of distress, Sane’i holds that “in cases where [abortion] is sought to alleviate from the mother a danger, or even a difficulty, related to the bearing of a child, abortion would be permissible prior to the fourth-month stage of ensoulment.”[11] After the ensoulment, this exception is narrowed to circumstances where the life of the mother is in danger[12], in which case the abortion of the fetus, again, is a lesser sin than allowing the mother to die.
Islam’s emphasis on preserving human life unless it is demanded by justice is met with a labyrinth of questions, verses from the Qur’an, hadiths, and circumstances that must be carefully examined when it goes to define its position on abortion. Centuries of Islamic scholars have made comprehensive studies of the questions regarding the nature of life, the soul, the spirit, the beginning of human life, and concerning the stage of ensoulment. Though ensoulment itself is a critical part of human development, in determining at which point abortion is prohibited, it is the fetus’ potential for ensoulment, and thus its potential for rational thought and a human soul, that proves most important. As Islamic law considers the potentiality of ensoulment enough to grant a fetus inheritance rights and the right of diya, the prohibition of abortion also depends on this potentiality, which most scholars have determined begins with the implantation of the fetus into the uterus. After this point, Islam forbids abortion, save for circumstances in which the continuation of the pregnancy would be fatal to the mother.
[1] Syed, Ibrahim B. Abortion in Islam. IRFI. Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
[2] Akbar, Khalid Farooq. “Family Planning and Islam: A Review.” Hamdard Islamicus XVII.3 (1974). Web.
[3] Syed, Ibrahim B. Abortion in Islam. IRFI. Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
[4] Akbar, Khalid Farooq. “Family Planning and Islam: A Review.” Hamdard Islamicus XVII.3 (1974). Web.
[5] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.
[6] Rizvi, Sayyid Muhammed. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Scarborough: Islamic Education & Information Centre, n.d.Web.
[7] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 16.3 (2005): 239-250. Web.
[8] Rizvi, Sayyid Muhammed. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Scarborough: Islamic Education & Information Centre, n.d. Web.
[9] Kandil, Elsayed. “Abortion in Islam.” Salam Magazine, 1 Jan. 2005. Web.
[10] The Qur’an. Trans. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. Elmhurst: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., 2008. Print. Pg. 22.
[11] – [12] Hussain, Arif Abdul. “Ensoulment and the Prohibition of Abortion in Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations Web.
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Posted at 10:21 am EST on the 10th of March 2010 by H. B. Herdeg. Under Essays as Islam There are 4 replies. |
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Very interesting topic. Did you come across any discussion of how it has come to be agreed upon that ensoulment occurs by 120 days? Was it particular characteristics in fetal development that had occurred by that time, and if so, what were they?
So, that’s interesting. They say, abort the ensouled fetus rather than the mother because the mother is full grown? It seems like in much of Western thought, that’s the precise reason why the baby takes priority. The principle of not siding with the strong against the powerless. I think I’d agree that abortion is the lesser of two evils if both are in danger of death and the baby will die anyway. But, saving the bigger person because she’s bigger than the smaller person seems like a serious breech in Islamic ethical law.
John, in addition to the comments made by Kandil, cited by H.B. in relation to the issue you’re addressing, there are many, many other commentaries in Islam (as in other faiths) in this problem. Your criticism is unfortunately shallow. Even in the narrow argument made above, there is a lot more in play than simply “bigger” and “smaller,” as you injuriously reduced–or even “stronger” and “weaker.”
I would also seriously question your allegation that this Islamic prioritization rides against the Western strain of thought, which you describe as giving the baby priority. What are you referring to? If you’re referring to the issue of abortion broadly, I would ask what the West seems to be getting more correct than Islam–not a defense of Islam broadly, please note. If you’re referring to the issue of what to do if the life of a fetus and mother are in tension, I would ask you in what society in the West have we dispatched the mothers to save the babies? I hesitate to make sweeping claims, especially since I have no time to support this with research or statistics, but I would venture to say that in both every Western and every developed nation and culture, the practice of ethics and medicine have always sought to save the mother first.
Is this siding with the strong against the weak? That seems a bizarre and somewhat of a disingenuous philosophical rumination. As much as situational ethics is dangerous territory, forget not that ethics are, finally, always applied to situations. There are very, very few circumstances in which the lives of the mother and fetus are in such direct tension–this is likely more of a logical puzzle than a real-life moral dilemma. More often than not, the death or significant harm to the mother is likely to cause the same result in the child. And even if this scenario played out as posited, you would be left with a motherless (though living) infant.
The mother is likely a wife, possibly already a mother, possibly a future mother. She has parents, siblings, friends, relationships. In short, the lives of others depend upon her. The child has every bit as much value as a human life, and the death of any child at birth, as any mother would tell you, is a crushing tragedy. But this is hardly the cowardly sale of the weak to destruction. It is simply a sad and difficult problem of a fallen world.
Margaret–
I think I referenced this in my previous point, but there is actually a verse of the Qur’an which gives the 120 day period. It discusses a set of three forty-day periods, and the stage of the fetus at each, and states that at the end of the third forty-day set, the ruh is breathed into the fetus; or, on the 120th day, ensoulment occurs. As the Qur’an is believed to the the precise word of Allah (God), given to Mohammed by Gabriel, and has not been altered in any way, no, the 120 days did not come about as a result of discussion, but is one of those standards that has always been there for Islam.