HEALTH & WELL-BEING
Islam and Abortion Islam allows the termination of pregnancy within certain ethical parameters BY SHAHID ATHAR
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he termination of a pregnancy, which involves more than one life, is a controversial issue from both the religious and the secular perspective. In an election year or election cycle, battles erupt between pro-life and pro-choice groups. Abortion needs to be examined from an ethical viewpoint, which includes the definition of life, the viability of the fetus, the concept of the soul (ruh) and the rights of the fetus and its parents. This discussion should include aspects of conception, including rape and incest, as well as the Muslim physicians’ role. Consider the case of a woman who has suffered two miscarriages. Her third pregnancy results in CD 19 deficiencies, a fatal condition. B-lymphocyte antigen CD19, also known as CD19 (Cluster of Differentiation
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and seeking a cure (the prophetic hadith: “Seek the cure, as God has created no disease without a cure, except old age” [Tirmidhi]). Islamic medical ethics state that necessity overrides prohibition, that one should choose the lesser of the two evils, that public interest overrides individual interest, and that harm must be avoided as much as possible.
WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN? 19), is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the CD19 gene. Bone marrow transplantation was done twice, at a cost of $200,000, and the child died aged 8 months. This woman, now 4 weeks into another pregnancy, is wondering whether she should consider an abortion, amniocentesis first and then an abortion if it is positive for the same abnormalities, or continue the pregnancy. Many of the Muslim physicians who responded to this question in a survey conducted by the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) chose the second option; small groups opted for the other two. The Shariah is designed to protect a Muslim’s life, mind, private property, freedom of religion, and legacy. The principles of Islamic medicine are the sanctity of human life (“if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people” [Quran 5:32])
The pro-choice movement considers the fetus to be an entity growing inside its mother’s womb like a vestigial organ. Muslim ethicists argue that inception itself is a clear and well-defined event in biology; that the fetus has signs of growth, which will continue unless it is terminated; and that its genetic code is that of a natural organism. Therefore, most religiously inclined ethicists believe that life begins at inception. Hadith #4 in Nawawi’s Forty Hadith, narrated by Abdullah ibn Masud (‘alayhi rahmat) (trans. Ezzeddin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-Davies, Dar al-Ilm, Beirut, 1982), states that the Prophet (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) told them that “the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days in the form of a drop (nutufa), then he becomes a clot of blood (alaqa) for a like period, then a
ISLAMIC HORIZONS JULY/AUGUST 2016