Is it permissible for a man, if he knows that his wife is pregnant in her first days, to order her to abort the pregnancy, and when does aborting the fetus constitute killing it?

The questioner : I ask a question, so I say: A questioner asked and said: Is it permissible for a man, if he knows that his wife is pregnant for nine or ten days in the first days, is it permissible for him to order her, or for her to do something to abort her pregnancy in these first days?

The Shaykh : Let us see what the motive for this is?

The questioner : The motive is that he does not want it, for example.

The Shaykh : Why does he not want it?

The questioner : He says he does not want it like this.

The Shaykh : There is no "like this" here; "like this" is not acceptable. There must be something behind every matter described as "like this." We need to know the cause, whatever the possibilities may be, and every question has an answer.

The questioner : This is if she is sick, of course. I think, my professor, that it is permissible if you mentioned that she is sick.

The Shaykh : Yes, and therefore you should ask about the thing you do not know whether it is permissible or not permissible.

The questioner : ... I want to ask about a matter...

The Shaykh : In any case, the answer is that we have spoken repeatedly and again and again: the Muslim has a duty in this world that he must fulfill, each according to his capacity. And the least of the duties for the Muslim is to increase the number of those who say, "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." For that reason, I always remind you of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And it is very strange that some people’s fitrah (innate natural disposition) is distorted... Allah sends a person lawful wealth without any effort, toil, or fatigue, and then he says, "No, no, I do not want it." This is a strange matter. People complain of infertility, so they resort to causes, some of which are permissible and some are not, just so that this woman will become pregnant, do you see? And other people, Allah the Exalted decrees that... she is pregnant, and they do not want it now. This is disbelief in the wisdom of Allah and in the blessings of Allah the Exalted. Therefore, we cannot say anything except that coitus interruptus (‘azl) before the nutfah (embryo) begins to ferment, while it is still on its decreed path, is disliked (makruh) because it contradicts: Your Lord has decreed for you a fertile wife, so thank Allah. Laugh in your secret, while others are spending vast sums of money to make their wives fertile. This is from the disbelief of man. The owner of the barren wife is not satisfied, and the owner of the fertile wife is not satisfied. What will satisfy these people? Only faith. Therefore, coitus interruptus is disliked. When the water coagulates, the dislike becomes stronger. When the soul is breathed in, abortion and miscarriage become forbidden (haram). But here there remain necessities, necessities that permit the prohibited, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : When do we count it as killing?

The Shaykh : It is after the soul is breathed in.

The questioner : After the soul is breathed into it.