A woman whose child was afflicted with a disease that doctors call German measles, and who is in her third month of pregnancy, so the doctors advised her husband that she must abort it
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The questioner : A wife who is the mother of a child, whose child was afflicted with a disease that doctors call German measles, and she is in her third month of pregnancy. The doctors advised her husband that she must deliver the fetus, otherwise it will be born deformed according to their statement. Is it permissible for him to do that to his wife, taking the doctors' words into account?
The Shaykh : We say first: If this fetus has been breathed into with the soul, then it is not permissible under any circumstances to abort this fetus, even if it leads to the death of the mother and the illness of the fetus. Why? Because this fetus is a living, respected being, a protected soul. If the fetus reaches four months, Allah sends to it an angel who breathes the soul into it, and the angel is commanded with four things: to write its provision, its lifespan, its deeds, and whether it will be wretched or happy.
As for if it is before the soul is breathed into it, and what the doctors mentioned becomes a known matter that is not hidden, then there is no harm in delivering it, because it has not reached the stage where it becomes a soul.
So if we are certain that this fetus will be as the doctors mentioned, born deformed, becoming a burden on itself and on its family, then there is no harm in delivering it, because it is not a protected soul. But without a doubt, it is respected. However, if we know, or if it is strongly probable in our opinion, that it will be born deformed and the soul will be breathed into it, then there is no harm in delivering it and aborting it.
The Shaykh : We say first: If this fetus has been breathed into with the soul, then it is not permissible under any circumstances to abort this fetus, even if it leads to the death of the mother and the illness of the fetus. Why? Because this fetus is a living, respected being, a protected soul. If the fetus reaches four months, Allah sends to it an angel who breathes the soul into it, and the angel is commanded with four things: to write its provision, its lifespan, its deeds, and whether it will be wretched or happy.
As for if it is before the soul is breathed into it, and what the doctors mentioned becomes a known matter that is not hidden, then there is no harm in delivering it, because it has not reached the stage where it becomes a soul.
So if we are certain that this fetus will be as the doctors mentioned, born deformed, becoming a burden on itself and on its family, then there is no harm in delivering it, because it is not a protected soul. But without a doubt, it is respected. However, if we know, or if it is strongly probable in our opinion, that it will be born deformed and the soul will be breathed into it, then there is no harm in delivering it and aborting it.