Could you kindly shed some light on all the following cases of abortion from an Islamic perspective?
1. Ladies approaching medical doctors in case of delayed periods asking for drugs for abortion.
2. Pregnancy due to rape by a mentally stable or unstable man.
3. A woman on medication having psychiatric problems causing problems to the baby; having no substitute for the prescribed medicine.
Also, what is the diyah or blood money in case of abortion?
- The Maliki faqeeh Ibn Jizzi narrated in al-Qawaneen al-Fiqhiyyah that there was scholarly consensus that it is haram to have an abortion after the soul has been breathed into the fetus. He said: “When the womb has accepted the sperm it is haram to interfere with it. It is worse (to do so) when it has been formed; and it is worsen when the soul has been breathed into it, for that is considered to be the killing of a soul, according to scholarly consensus.”[1]
From the above, it is clear that terminating pregnancy at any stage is not permissible unless if it is a necessity.
- The general ruling with regards to abortion is that it is haram regardless of how the pregnancy was conceived but some scholars have permitted abortion if there is a necessity. Sheikh Munajjid talks about situations where the mother will hate the baby just because of the way it was conceived and if this is the case then he considers it a necessity which allows abortion. It seems that in the case where the women are raped, some scholars have allowed women to get an abortion especially if it’s still in the first weeks.[2]
- In such a case, Allah knows best if she can’t abort because the general rule is that abortion is not permissible especially after the rooh has been blown into the foetus. In case the extent of harm is unknown then Sheikh Munajjid said that it is forbidden to abort - especially after the 4th month - even if the baby is deformed.[3]
The blood money for the foetus is emancipation of a slave (male/female) if that is not possible then 5 camels (one tenth of the diyah of the mother)[4]
References:
[1] Ibn Jizzi, Al-Qawaneen al-Fiqhiyyah, 141
[2] http://islamqa.info/en/12475
[3] http://islamqa.info/en/13319
[4] http://islamqa.info/en/82026
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