Since there appears to be a lot of discussion on abortion in recently, in light of the leak of US Supreme Court opinion on overturning Roe v Wade, a lot of people are saying the US is going to be a "sharia law" country. Comedians such as Trevor Noah made this joke, while a lot of Muslims are posting links to Ben Shapiro and using the same arguments that the Republican right uses in USA. What I wanted to emphasize is that US pro-life arguments come from their understanding of Christianity, which is different from the Muslim point of view, so using some of the Republican arguments is a non-starter.
- Christianity believes life begins at conception. Thus their stance on abortion is tied to this belief. Abortion in Christianity is murder, plain and simple. If you are a believing Christian, you cannot reconcile support for abortion on a theological level, because you ARE killing a life.
- Muslims believe by and large that the soul enters the fetus at 120 days after conception (majority opinion). Some minority scholars believe in 40 days. So almost unanimously, before 120 days the fetus is just a growing body of cells and tissue. Yes, it has the potential of becoming a living thing, but it is not LIFE yet.
- Regardless, the Muslim stance on abortion is NOT based on when life begins, unlike Christianity (which is what Ben Shapiro, who coincidentally is a Jew, believes).
- Can you terminate a pregnancy AFTER the first trimester (i.e. after 120 days, when it is now a living soul)? The unanimous verdict is that without a valid reason, NO. This is different from Christianity, which is a NO regardless of reason. In Islam, the life of the mother is held to be more valuable than the life of the fetus. Hence if the life of the mother is at risk, abortion at ANY MOMENT can be justified. The greater the concrete reason, the more lenient the verdict. It should be noted that nowadays, with modern science, you do not have to abort as we have lots of success with premature births.
- What about before 120 days (i.e. the first trimester)? There is a valid difference of opinion. Some Hanafi scholars are very lenient, saying you don't need ANY valid reason. Other scholars from other madhabs are split on this. You can read more about it in the sources I will provide at the end of this article. Again, this is vastly different from Christianity, which is NO ABORTION AT ALL UNDER ANY CONDITIONS because it is MURDER. It is important to understand this distinction.
So if you are speaking from an Islamic point of view, and someone asks you what is the correct summary of Islamic position on abortion, this would be the correct answer:
- In Islam, life begins at some point AFTER conception (120 days).
- There is valid difference of opinion on the permissibility of abortion in the first trimester if done WITHOUT ANY VALID REASON.
- There is unanimous consent that abortion is NOT ALLOWED after the first trimester UNLESS there is compelling valid reasons tied to the health of the mother.
- At any point, the life of the mother is superior to the life of the fetus.
- As a general point of note, abortion is not something that is the recommended option. Exceptional circumstances require specific judgements.
Thus you can see that the Shariah is actually more flexible, and more accommodating to concerns of society, the woman, the man, the family, the marital unit, the future child and keeps a good balance overall.
What about "my body, my choice" ?
In Islam, we are slaves of Allah. We submit to Him (hence the name Muslim). We do what He has commanded. We have the choice not to follow His rules, but then we will answer for it.
What about "only a woman should speak on abortion" ?
That is not the Islamic point of view.
I hope this post can shed a light on some of the discussion where many people are bringing religious perspectives. Even if as a Muslim you believe in the strictest option in the first trimester, know that valid scholarly difference of opinion on this exists.
Sources:
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