Is it permissible to abort the fetus before the soul is breathed into it due to its deformity? And is it permissible to abort it before forty days?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : He says: Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : A woman says: My monthly period was delayed, so I took an injection to bring it on and remove it, but it did not come. The test revealed that I was pregnant. One of the complications of these injections is that the fetus is deformed. At the same time, I contracted German measles, which also causes deafness or mental retardation in the fetus. The fetus is now two months old.
First: Is it permissible to abort it through a surgical operation?
Second: Was it permissible to abort it before forty days, as some scholars say?
The Shaykh : Aborting the fetus is permissible if the soul has not been breathed into it, if there is a dire necessity for it, such as if the doctors say that the fetus is deformed. It is permissible to abort it if it is before the soul is breathed into it. When is the soul breathed into it? When it reaches four months, according to the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the truthful and veracious one, told us:Mishkat al-Masabih 82Muttafaqun 'alayh (Zubair `Aliza'i).
As for if it is after the completion of four months, meaning after the soul has been breathed into it, then it is not permissible to abort it under any circumstances, even if the doctors say that if it remains, its mother will die. It is not permissible to abort it because it is not permissible to kill a soul to save another soul. Yes.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : A woman says: My monthly period was delayed, so I took an injection to bring it on and remove it, but it did not come. The test revealed that I was pregnant. One of the complications of these injections is that the fetus is deformed. At the same time, I contracted German measles, which also causes deafness or mental retardation in the fetus. The fetus is now two months old.
First: Is it permissible to abort it through a surgical operation?
Second: Was it permissible to abort it before forty days, as some scholars say?
The Shaykh : Aborting the fetus is permissible if the soul has not been breathed into it, if there is a dire necessity for it, such as if the doctors say that the fetus is deformed. It is permissible to abort it if it is before the soul is breathed into it. When is the soul breathed into it? When it reaches four months, according to the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the truthful and veracious one, told us:
The constituents of one of you are collected for forty days in his mother’s womb in the form of a drop, then they become a piece of congealed blood for a similar period, then they become a lump of flesh for a similar period. Then God sends to him an angel with four words who records his deeds, the period of his life, his provision, and whether he will be miserable or blessed: thereafter He breathes the spirit into him.
إن أحدكم يجمع خلقه في بطن أمه أربعين يوما نطفة ثم يكون علقة مثل ذلك ثم يكون مضغة مثل ذلك ثم يرسل إليه الملك فينفح فيه الروح ويؤمر بأربع كلمات بكتب رزقه وأجله وعمله وشقي أو سعيدAs for if it is after the completion of four months, meaning after the soul has been breathed into it, then it is not permissible to abort it under any circumstances, even if the doctors say that if it remains, its mother will die. It is not permissible to abort it because it is not permissible to kill a soul to save another soul. Yes.