Abortion is Murder

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

Allah says:

وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوا النَّفۡسَ الَّتِیۡ حَرَّمَ اللّٰہُ اِلَّا بِالۡحَقِّ

And do not kill a soul that Allah has made sacred, except by right

(Surah 17, Ayah 33)

On Judgment Day Allah will ask the following question to the child who suffered infanticide:

بِاَیِّ ذَنۡۢبٍ قُتِلَتۡ

For what crime were you killed?

(Surah 81, Ayah 9)

Islam teaches that Allah sends an Angel to breathe the Ruh (spirit) into the fetus of every unborn child while it is still in the womb of its mother. This happens 120 days after conception. Hence, deliberate abortion after this period of time is nothing but a euphemism for baby murder. However, an abortion may be performed for a valid reason, meaning, if the mother gives birth it will likely cause her to die. In this unique and extreme scenario the principal life of the mother is given precedence over the life of the unborn child.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught that the unborn child is a person. According to a Hadith, it is reported that he said:

إِنَّ السِّقْطَ لَيُرَاغِمُ رَبَّهُ إِذَا أَدْخَلَ أَبَوَيْهِ النَّارَ فَيُقَالُ أَيُّهَا السِّقْطُ الْمُرَاغِمُ رَبَّهُ أَدْخِلْ أَبَوَيْكَ الْجَنَّةَ فَيَجُرُّهُمَا بِسَرَرِهِ حَتَّى يُدْخِلَهُمَا الْجَنَّةَ

Indeed, the miscarried fetus will contend with his Lord if his parents entered Hellfire. It will be said, “O you miscarried fetus that contends with his Lord, enter your parents into Paradise.” So he will drag them by its umbilical cord until he causes them to enter Paradise (Sunan Ibn Majah, #1608)

According to the Shari’ah, if someone unintentionally causes a pregnant woman to miscarry, he or she is liable to pay the appropriate blood money. These facts establish that Islam considers the unborn child to be a person, and its abortion is totally prohibited.

Some foolish people among the Muslims, usually influenced by feminism, argue that abortion is unrestrictedly permissible before ensoulment of the fetus, meaning before 120 days of pregnancy. Even if technically the fetus has no spirit at that time, it is still alive. It may not technically be considered murder, but that is not a license to abort it. Rather, the sin of aborting a fetus before ensoulment, and without a valid excuse such as the mother’s life being jeopardized if she carries it to term, is like the sin of cutting off one’s limb or doing permanent damage to one’s organs. 

According to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, while abortion prior to 120 days does not entail the same gravity of sin and evil as abortion subsequent to the ensoulment of the fetus, it is nonetheless prohibited. Allamah Ibn Abidin al-Shami has mentioned a discussion on this point in his famous commentary of Durr al-Mukhtar:

وَفِي كَرَاهَةِ الْخَانِيَّةِ وَلَا أَقُولُ بِالْحِلِّ إذْ الْمُحْرِمُ لَوْ كَسَرَ بَيْضَ الصَّيْدِ ضَمِنَهُ لِأَنَّهُ أَصْلُ الصَّيْدِ فَلَمَّا كَانَ يُؤَاخَذُ بِالْجَزَاءِ فَلَا أَقَلَّ مِنْ أَنْ يَلْحَقَهَا إثْمٌ هُنَا إذَا سَقَطَ بِغَيْرِ عُذْرِهَا قَالَ ابْنُ وَهْبَانَ وَمِنْ الْأَعْذَارِ أَنْ يَنْقَطِعَ لَبَنُهَا بَعْدَ ظُهُورِ الْحَمْلِ وَلَيْسَ لِأَبِي الصَّبِيِّ مَا يَسْتَأْجِرُ بِهِ الظِّئْرَ وَيَخَافُ هَلَاكَهُ وَنُقِلَ عَنْ الذَّخِيرَةِ لَوْ أَرَادَتْ الْإِلْقَاءَ قَبْلَ مُضِيِّ زَمَنٍ يُنْفَخُ فِيهِ الرُّوحُ هَلْ يُبَاحُ لَهَا ذَلِكَ أَمْ لَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ وَكَانَ الْفَقِيهُ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُوسَى يَقُولُ إنَّهُ يُكْرَهُ فَإِنَّ الْمَاءَ بَعْدَمَا وَقَعَ فِي الرَّحِمِ مَآلُهُ الْحَيَاةُ فَيَكُونُ لَهُ حُكْمُ الْحَيَاةِ كَمَا فِي بَيْضَةِ صَيْدِ الْحَرَمِ وَنَحْوُهُ فِي الظَّهِيرِيَّةِ قَالَ ابْنُ وَهْبَانَ فَإِبَاحَةُ الْإِسْقَاطِ مَحْمُولَةٌ عَلَى حَالَةِ الْعُذْرِ أَوْ أَنَّهَا لَا تَأْثَمُ إثْمَ الْقَتْلِ وَبِمَا فِي الذَّخِيرَةِ تَبَيَّنَ أَنَّهُمْ مَا أَرَادُوا بِالتَّحْقِيقِ إلَّا نَفْخُ الرُّوحِ وَأَنَّ قَاضِيَ خَانْ مَسْبُوقٌ بِمَا مَرَّ مِنْ التَّفَقُّهِ وَاَللَّهُ تَعَالَى الْمُوَفِّقُ

And regarding abortion before ensoulment being prohibitively disliked, in the Khaniyyah: “I do not say it is permissible, since if a pilgrim in Ihram breaks game eggs, he is liable for them because they are the origin of the game. Since he is held accountable for the penalty, then at the very least, sin will befall her here if it falls without a valid excuse.” Ibn Wahban said: “Among the excuses is that her milk ceases after the pregnancy becomes apparent, and the father of the child has no means to hire a wet nurse. And he fears its death.” It was reported in the Dhakhirah that if she wanted to expel it before the time had passed when the soul would be breathed into it, is that permissible for her or not? They differed on this. And the jurist Ali bin Musa used to say that it is prohibitively disliked, for the water, after it has fallen into the womb, its destiny is life, so it has the ruling of life, as in the case of the egg of game hunted in the sanctuary and the like. In the Zahiriyyah, he said, Ibn Wahban said: “The permissibility of abortion is based on the condition of a valid excuse, or that it does not constitute the sin of murder.” And what is in the Dhakhirah makes it clear that what they truly intended was nothing other than the breathing of life into the fetus, and that Qadi Khan was preceded by what has been mentioned regarding the understanding of jurisprudence. And Allah the exalted is the One who grants success. (Radd ul-Muhtar, v.4, p.336)

In fact, all Four Schools are in unanimity that abortion after 120 days is totally forbidden and is tantamount to murder. The Maliki school is strictest in prohibiting abortion at any stage in the pregnancy, including prior to ensoulment. There is difference of opinion in the Shafi’i school regarding abortion prior to 120 days, some say it is permitted but other prohibit it. The Hanbali school permits abortion only in the first 40 days of pregnancy.

From a moral standpoint there is no justification for abortion of an unborn child due to rape, adultery, fornication, let alone inconvenience to the mother such as shame for being unwed or being a financial burden, etc. Why should the child be punished for the crime of its parent? Allah says in the Quran not to kill your children for fear of poverty, for He is the Provider Who provides sustenance for you and your children, and that the killing of children is a mortal sin (Surah 17, Ayah 31).

It is to the ultimate shame of Canada, my country of birth and residence, that abortion at any stage in the pregnancy is totally legal.

The crime of abortion will most certainly be among those which God judges at the Resurrection. In fact, He will first reckon will all matters of bloodshed before any other matter, as my Master, peace be upon him, said:

أَوَّلُ مَا يُقْضَى بَيْنَ اَلنَّاسِ يَوْمَ اَلْقِيَامَةِ فِي اَلدِّمَاءِ

“The first matter to be judged between mankind on the Day of Resurrection is concerning bloodshed.”

Let the unrepentant who have committed this horrible crime of infanticide, of either their born or unborn children, beware! You have blood on your hands and you will have to answer to your Maker; for what crime of this little one did you butcher her?

On that Day my Lord and my God will be in a state of fury the like of which has never been manifested before. Therefore, repent and start to make amends by calling for the criminalization of abortion.

Now see the consequences of allowing this abortion. Spiritually dead societies like China aborted millions of girls during the One-child policy. God is retributing them with a severe imbalance in their demographics, in terms of age and sex. An aging society with no sufficient replacement to sustain the economic and infrastructural machinery. The same state of affairs is true in most of the so-called developed world, which is permissive of abortion.

Though the United States is to be lauded for suddenly slamming the breaks on this evil when its Supreme Court rightly overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

But I emphasize my message to my fellow Muslims and to the Muslim states of this world. Beware! Do not tolerate the legality of abortion in your societies in those places where it is legal. Nor fail to speak out and act in those places where it is common or overlooked despite the law, lest the punishment of Allah rain down upon us for our moral failure to respect and uphold the sanctity of human life.