adnan@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Adnan Choudhury) (06/05/91)
As-salaamu 'alaikum. Several months ago, somebody raised the issue of Islamic legislation pertaining to abortion. I must have missed any subsequent discussions. I personally seem to have come across conflicting opinions. Would anybody care to elucidate? Thanks very much. - Adnan Choudhury
soufi@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Khaled Soufi) (06/06/91)
Assalamu alaykum,
I also would like to hear opinions/shariaa on the abortion issue. I
once heard few friends of mine discussing whether or not abortion is
'haram' in Islam. They came to the conclusion that it is not clear if
it is 'haram'! Anybody who knows better than this please reply.
--khaled
('haram' <=> violates the rules (major ones) of Islam)
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| Khaled Soufi phone: |
| Department of Computer Science (217)244-2274 (DCL) |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (217)244-5492 (NCSA) |jamal@caen.engin.umich.edu (Jamal Mubarak) (06/07/91)
In article <1991Jun6.132422.30484@wpi.WPI.EDU> soufi@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Khaled Soufi) writes: > >Assalamu alaykum, > >I also would like to hear opinions/shariaa on the abortion issue. I >once heard few friends of mine discussing whether or not abortion is >'haram' in Islam. They came to the conclusion that it is not clear if >it is 'haram'! Anybody who knows better than this please reply. > >--khaled > >('haram' <=> violates the rules (major ones) of Islam) An article had been posted on this subject which reflected a rather conserv- ative opinion. I had a rather long e-mail discussion with poster of the art- icle. During the course of the discussion I looked up some references which I thought were very surprising. Below are given excerpts from a book called "Islam and Biological Futures--Ethics, Gender, and Technology" by Munawar Ahmad Anees. Another very interesting book is "Sex and Society in Islam" by Basim F. Mussalam. Anees refers to this book in the excerpts that follow. The excerpts cover the four schools of thought in the Sunni sect. The Shia opinions are similar. Crucial to the issue at hand is the concept of ensoul- ment of the fetus. Muslims scholars have believed this to take place after four months of pregnancy. There are distinct embryological correlates of this. We can discuss this if someone is interested. Chapter "The Inscrutable: an Excursus", page 164 onwards. My own comments are in curly brackets. Excerpts: "In the Muslim world abortion is not an issue, because there is little partisan gain to be achieved. One notable exception was the campaign led by Jama'at Islami in the mid-1960's against the Muhammad Ayub Khan regime's forced sterilization programme in Pakistan." "Given these circumstances, it may be said without fear of philosophical squabble that Islam permits abortion. The question for Muslim women of constitutional right to an abortion is an impertinence. The approval of abortion in accordance with the commands of the shari'ah makes any political bargaining over procured abortion redundant. The timely availability of proper medical attention notwithstanding, this reproductive freedom enjoy- ed by Muslim women may come as a big shock to radical feminists who hold 'legalized' abortion as one of their prime achievements." "There is unanimous prohibition of abortion after the completion of the fourth month of pregnancy. Prior to the prescribed period, however, fuqaha hold different views." "'Classical views, as expressed by scholars of the four Sunni (orthodox) schools and the dissident Shi'ite and Kharijite sects, on abortion before the end of the the first four months of pregancy, fall into four basic categories: unqualified allowance without need of an excuse; permissibility if there is an excuse and disfavour if there is not; unqualified disfavour in all cases; prohibition in all cases.'" [Zayid, "Family Planning in Islam," p.9] "According to a survey of Muslim jurists on the subject, Muhammad Salam Madkur has observed that Hanafi scholars, such as Haskafi and Ibn Wahban, have ruled that a woman is allowed to abort before the completion of four months of pregnancy even without her husband's consent, although she should have reason. One reason often used is the existence of a nursing infant." "The position of the Maliki school is not as lax as that of the Hanafi. They hold that abortion should be prohibited even during the first forty days of pregnancy, and they are unanimous in prohibiting it after ensoul- ment. Nonetheless, abortion at the preimplantation stage is permissible. Al-Qurtubi, a Maliki scholar, indicates (al-Jami' li Ahkam al-Qur'an) that it is admissible to dispose of the fertilized ovum while it is still in the uterine tube and before it definitely assumes the form of a gastrula. A woman can get rid of it as long as it has not yet settled in the uterus. He says: 'The sperm is not subject to any legal provision if it is discard- ed by the woman after it settles in the womb. At this stage it is as though it were still part of the man in his loins.' {I think there is a mistake here, it should be before rather than after.} "Basim Mussallam {in the book I mentioned} believes that most Maliki jurists disapproved of abortion absolutely. They sided with those who held the view that the foetus is not a human being before ensoulment, but asserted that since the predestination of the sperm, once it lodges in the uterus, is ensoulment, it should not be trifled with: 'When the womb has retained the semen it is not permitted for the husband and wife, or one of the them, or the master [of the slave wife] to induce an abortion. After ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited absolutely and is akin to murder.' [See Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzaiy al-Kalbi (d. 740/1340), "Kitab al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyyah," Fez, Matba'at an-Nahda, 1935, p.212; vide Musallam, "Sex and Society in Islam," pp.57-8.] "Among Shafi'i scholars, opinions differ about the nature of the fertilized ovum before the end of the forty days of pregnancy. Some argue that the zygote, if eliminated, is not to be regarded as having been aborted or suffered infanti- cide, while others considered it forbidden. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Sa'id al-Qurafi is willing to allow forced birth in between zygote and the clot i.e., before either of them begins to take shape as a gastrula. "The verdict of Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali ..." {I did not type this one in as the poster of the original article had mentioned it. It is some- thing to the effect that all abortion is bad. The sin associated with it becomes more as the pregnancy advances and at ensoulment (120 days) it becomes haraam.} "Generally, the Shafi'i belief is that prohibition is inapplicable to the pre-ensoulment period or before the end of forty days following conception. "The Hanbali scholar, Muwaffaq ad-Din ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 620/1223), is of the view that if a person bangs the abdomen of a pregnant woman and causes her to abort, that person must compensate for the action. Similarly, a pregnant woman who aborts after using an abortive drug, must compensate for her deed. If abortion occurs during the gastrula phase and is attested by the accoucheuse that it has a faint bearing of human form, then the repara- tion would be in the form of a ghurra (indemnity). Hanbali authors are quite plain in cases where compensation must be made. The Blessed Prophet is reported to have granted a ghurra in the case of the fetus of a woman from the clan of Hudhail. "Commenting on the Shafi'i and the Hanbali juridical opinion on the subject, Mussalam has observed that 'they agreed with Hanafis in their tolerance of the practice, some putting an upper limit of 40 days for legal abortion, others eighty days or 120 days. The variety of legal regulations blurred the exact religious attitude towards abortion. Not only that, but given the nature of Islamic Law, both Hanafi opinion [permission] and Maliki opinion [prohibition] were deemed legitimate by all orthodox Muslims.'" {I found this to be rather convincing.} Wassalaam, Jamal