- Allah created our bodies and owns our bodies. Abortion is therefore not the choice of a woman.
- Abortion is murder (with an exception of a few variables mentioned in this article).
The Qur’an unambiguously values and sanctifies human life,
“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden to be killed except in the course of justice.”
[al-An‘âm (6): 151]
The anatomy of a woman is mentioned by Allah in a remarkable manner; the womb being perceived as incredibly scared in Islam. It is through the womb of a mother that profound bonds are formed. In addition, it is through the womb that we are connected to our family relations. In hadith Qudsi, Allah says:
“I am Allah, and I am ar-Raḥman (the Most Merciful) who created the raḥim (womb), so whoever stays connected with it (i.e., womb relations), I will connect him [to My mercy], and whoever severs ties with it, I will disconnect him [from My mercy].”
Who gives us our rights?
The Liberal discourse provides people with their ‘rights’ from the corpus of Individualism. The question arises: who has the right to provide us with our rights? If, as humans, we allow man-made laws to be the core of our framework of morality and ethics, this will lead to immorality, chaos in the land, and more alarmingly (as in the case of Abortion), murder!
“It’s my body and it’s my choice” or “It is my individual right”, are slogans often heard at pro-Abortion protests. However, what about the rights of the unborn child who is in the womb of his/her mother?. Stripping life from innocent, unborn children is, in turn, a gross violation of their rights.
Allah created us and is our Master. It is therefore not befitting for us to have authority over such matters. Allah is al-Hakim (the all-knowing), and it is for this reason that we place our trust in Him.
“My body, My Choice”
But is it really?
This is the antithesis of what we are taught in Islam. This notion challenges the concept of Tawhid. If Allah owns our bodies, how can we have command over that which we do not own? Allah says in the holy Qur’an that our bodies will return to him.
“…..’Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.’
[2:156]
Allah also says in the Qur’an,
‘It is not for a believing man or woman-when Allah and His messenger decree a matter- to have any other choice in that matter. Indeed, whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, has clearly gone ‘far’ astray’
(33:36)
In what circumstances is Abortion permissible?
Abortion proceeding from ensoulment taking place in the womb is considered murder in Islam. The majority of scholars (3 schools of thought) agree that the inception of the soul occurs 120 days after conception. One school of thought states that this occurs after 40 days. Therefore, the exception being that Abortion can take place prior to the inception of the soul, Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.”
(23: 12-14)
The only other reason a pregnancy can be terminated after the period of ensoulment is if it can be medically determined that continuing a pregnancy could truly endanger the mother’s life.
Feminism and Abortion
In 1966, second-wave feminist Betty Friedan campaigned for the decriminalisation of abortion, Betty Friedan and the Birth of Modern Feminism | The Heritage Foundation. She fought for government-funded day care to relieve women of the “burdens” of motherhood. However, interestingly, Frieden re-evaluated her opinions in the 1970s, following a poll for women that she conducted.She discovered many women were more unhappy than ever before. She stated, “Feminist education intentionally puts a thumb on the scale away from family life and towards careers. This is its greatest, most long-lasting success—but it also causes social problems and personal unhappiness for many women. ” This coincides with the longitudinal study conducted by Blanchflower, Well-being over time in Britain and the USA – ScienceDirect in which 100,000 women from Britain and the USA were interviewed between 1970 and 1990. The study concludes that anti-female discrimination policy’ has not been successful in either country and has, as a consequence, been unsuccessful in establishing a rising feeling of well-being among women.
Developmental Psychologist, Priscilla Coleman, Expert on abortion and mental health says Turnaway Study is ‘flawed’ | Catholic News Agency peer reviewed the popular The Turnaway Study | ANSIRH which is used by many feminists to propel a pro-Abortion narrative. The study concluded that most women are happy with their decision to have an abortion five years later. However, Coleman deduced that “Most of the study’s conclusions are due to their politically correct nature; conclusions do not mesh up accurately with the academic research”. She said, “The sample size of the study was one of the biggest flaws in the data”. This illustrates the bullying culture of feminists, who continuously shove an inaccurate narrative down our throats. Coleman highlights the risks of women having abortions and that some women do have long-term effects on their mental health.
Interestingly, a 2022 study conducted by Pew research Social and moral considerations in Americans’ views of abortion | Pew Research Center concluded that overall, just 7% of all U.S. adults say abortion is morally acceptable in all cases.
Abortion harms women. It is the cause of serious risks to women’s mental, emotional, and physical health. It conceptualises the permissibility of murdering children: from the moment of conception, every person is a unique and living human being with intrinsic value and worth. Furthermore, he possesses the right to human life. How do we know this? Allah said so. Human beings are therefore in desperate need of guidance from their creator when making such fundamental decisions for their lives.
Abortion (if not practised within the realms of permissibility in Islam) harms us all: it denigrates a man’s role as a father, it fosters a culture that disregards the dignity of human life, and it degrades the concept of motherhood. Moreover, if not practised within the confines of permissibility, it plays with our spirituality, as it is the work of Shaytan and his helpers.
However, Allah is the most forgiving to those who sincerely repent. He says in the Qur’an:
“O My servants who have transgressed against themselves (by sinning), do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed it is He who is the Forgiving and the Merciful”.
(39:53)
This article draws inspiration from an Instagram post shared by our brother Ustadh Hamza Tzortzis.
