Is it permissible to abort a fetus because it is deformed?
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The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : I have a personal problem. My wife is currently five and a half months pregnant. The doctors have all agreed that the child in her womb is deformed, and the degree of deformity is very high, to the point that the limbs are just buds that do not exceed the length of the fingers of the hands or feet. So I do not know what the ruling is, especially since the doctors say that it must be removed out of fear of psychological and health harm to the mother.
The Shaykh : Fear of what?
The questioner : Psychological and health harm to the mother.
The Shaykh : Psychological and health, yes.
The questioner : That the child is not normal in her womb. I do not know?
The Shaykh : Is she your wife?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you have any children from her previously?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : How much?
The questioner : I have a daughter, and praise be to Allah, she is healthy and well.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Before this girl, a deformed girl was born, but Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) ... but the degree of deformity in her was mild.
The Shaykh : Mild, yes. And your wife, if Allah wills, is committed?
The questioner : How committed?
The Shaykh : I mean, is she religious?
The questioner : Yes, and praise be to Allah, she is religious.
The Shaykh : Religious. Of course, when I ask this question, it is first to be able to give the Sharia ruling, and second, I do not mean by commitment merely fasting and praying. Is she a believer in the divine decree and destiny, and that every decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is good for the believer?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : If that is the case, then you do not need to ask a doctor. If that is so, you do not need to ask a doctor. And you should convey to your wife the following Prophetic hadith, which is his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: ; this is one thing. The second thing is that doctors are of two categories in terms of religiosity. There are the religious ones who fear Allah and are afraid of Him, and they do not proceed with a surgical operation that involves the killing of a soul. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has uniquely created it in the womb of its mother as He wills (Glorified and Exalted is He). So he fears proceeding with such an act because he is a believer, as we said earlier, in the divine decree and destiny. While some other doctors do not pay any attention to such issues at all. They say, "The fetus is deformed, so it is not permissible for one like it to be on the face of the earth." This is first. We have divided doctors into two categories: religious ones who fear Allah and do not proceed to kill a soul, even if it has not yet come to worldly life. Second, and this is something I think we all share in knowing, they are not all equal in knowledge. One may rule that this is deformed, and another may rule that this is not deformed. And one may say it is deformed, but the deformity is mild, like what you said about that boy or girl?
The questioner : A girl.
The Shaykh : A girl. So, it is not permissible for us to believe that when they rule, and the fetus is in the mother's womb, it is not as if her mother had given birth to it and it became visible to the naked eye without these scientific instruments that science has reached today. In short, there is something speculative and something certain. Regarding the inside, for example, you have heard that they are now able to know whether the fetus is male or female, yes? But this is not certain. This may be a preponderance of suspicion, or they may not have a preponderance of suspicion. So, the fact that the fetus now, if they say it is deformed and that it has such and such, as you described earlier, this is first, it may be a suspicion and not a certainty. Second, this child who is still a fetus in the wife's womb, how much of the pregnancy is in it?
The questioner : Five and a half months.
The Shaykh : Five months. How many months are still ahead for the formation of this fetus? Three and a half months.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Allah creates what you do not know.
Al-Halabi: Allahu Akbar.
The Shaykh : In these three and a half months, Allah creates what you do not know. Then the fetus, I mean, it has living movements.
The questioner : Only the heart and pulse, nothing else. But movements, due to the absence of limbs, it is difficult for there to be movement because the limbs are not present internally, so how does it want to move?
The Shaykh : Are there no legs?
The questioner : There are no legs and no hands, just buds only.
The questioner : I have a personal problem. My wife is currently five and a half months pregnant. The doctors have all agreed that the child in her womb is deformed, and the degree of deformity is very high, to the point that the limbs are just buds that do not exceed the length of the fingers of the hands or feet. So I do not know what the ruling is, especially since the doctors say that it must be removed out of fear of psychological and health harm to the mother.
The Shaykh : Fear of what?
The questioner : Psychological and health harm to the mother.
The Shaykh : Psychological and health, yes.
The questioner : That the child is not normal in her womb. I do not know?
The Shaykh : Is she your wife?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you have any children from her previously?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : How much?
The questioner : I have a daughter, and praise be to Allah, she is healthy and well.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Before this girl, a deformed girl was born, but Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) ... but the degree of deformity in her was mild.
The Shaykh : Mild, yes. And your wife, if Allah wills, is committed?
The questioner : How committed?
The Shaykh : I mean, is she religious?
The questioner : Yes, and praise be to Allah, she is religious.
The Shaykh : Religious. Of course, when I ask this question, it is first to be able to give the Sharia ruling, and second, I do not mean by commitment merely fasting and praying. Is she a believer in the divine decree and destiny, and that every decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is good for the believer?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : If that is the case, then you do not need to ask a doctor. If that is so, you do not need to ask a doctor. And you should convey to your wife the following Prophetic hadith, which is his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
The affair of the believer is wonderful in its entirety. If good befalls him, he praises Allah and thanks Him, and it is good for him. And if bad befalls him, he is patient, and it is good for him. So the affair of the believer is all good, and that is not the case except for the believer.
عجب أمر المؤمن كله إن أصابته سراء حمد لله وشكره فكان خيرا له ، وإن أصابته ضراء صبر فكان خيرا له فأمر المؤمن كله خير وليس ذلك إلا للمؤمنThe questioner : A girl.
The Shaykh : A girl. So, it is not permissible for us to believe that when they rule, and the fetus is in the mother's womb, it is not as if her mother had given birth to it and it became visible to the naked eye without these scientific instruments that science has reached today. In short, there is something speculative and something certain. Regarding the inside, for example, you have heard that they are now able to know whether the fetus is male or female, yes? But this is not certain. This may be a preponderance of suspicion, or they may not have a preponderance of suspicion. So, the fact that the fetus now, if they say it is deformed and that it has such and such, as you described earlier, this is first, it may be a suspicion and not a certainty. Second, this child who is still a fetus in the wife's womb, how much of the pregnancy is in it?
The questioner : Five and a half months.
The Shaykh : Five months. How many months are still ahead for the formation of this fetus? Three and a half months.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Allah creates what you do not know.
Al-Halabi: Allahu Akbar.
The Shaykh : In these three and a half months, Allah creates what you do not know. Then the fetus, I mean, it has living movements.
The questioner : Only the heart and pulse, nothing else. But movements, due to the absence of limbs, it is difficult for there to be movement because the limbs are not present internally, so how does it want to move?
The Shaykh : Are there no legs?
The questioner : There are no legs and no hands, just buds only.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.