Abortion and the Fetus’s Right to Life

Does the Fetus have the right to life? We will discuss now the issue of Abortion and the Fetus’s Right to Life Islam’s View vs Western Laws. Let’s compare Islam’s protection of life with the permissive approaches of Western legislation.

Abortion and the Fetus’s right to life: Islam’s view vs Western laws

The issue of abortion often frames a conflict between individual freedom and the right to life of the unborn.

Abortion and the Fetus’s Right to Life in many Western legislations

A woman’s “right to choose” is under personal liberty, privacy, and bodily autonomy, sometimes referred to in texts debating the ethics of abortion, rights and responsibilities or as a defence of abortion. In these contexts, Western societies permit abortion with little restriction, even for non-medical reasons.

Abortion and the Fetus’s Right to Life for Muslims:

A deeply rooted belief exists that the unborn child’s rights are the soul (ruḥ) which Allah breathes into the fetus. In addition, the act of abortion is not merely a matter of personal preference, but one that implicates the sanctity of human life.

Surah Al-An’am (151):

“And do not kill your children out of poverty; We will provide for you and them.”

Surah Al-Isra (33):

“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right.”

References:

Right Of Fetus (Janīn) In Islam And Western Law

When does life begin, from the Islamic perspective?

According to the teachings of Islam, true “human life” begins when the soul enters the fetus.

The Prophet PBUH said:

“The creation of each one of you is brought together in the womb of the mother for forty days as a drop (nutfah), then becomes a clinging clot (‘alaqah) for forty days, then a lump of flesh (mudghah) for forty days, and then Allah sends an angel to breathe the soul into him, and the angel is commanded with four matters”

Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim

This tradition explains that embryonic development occurs in three distinct phases, each lasting approximately forty days. After a total of 120 days, Allah breathed into the fetus, marking a crucial stage in its creation.

After ensoulment, around four months, the fetus is a living human being. Terminating the pregnancy at that point becomes equivalent to taking a human life, which is generally forbidden.

References:

Islam and the Abortion Debate

Jurisprudence: When abortion may be permitted

Islamic jurisprudence across the major Sunni schools agrees that abortion after 120 days is unlawful (ḥarām), except in dire situations where the mother’s life is at risk.

Before ensoulment, during the first 120 days, there is some difference of opinion, yet the default position remains prohibition except under serious necessity (threat to the mother’s health). Many scholars view the mother as the custodian of the fetus (amanah) and believe she should not decide to terminate it lightly.

Related posts: Islam and human rights

In conclusion, for Muslims, the sanctity of life, born or unborn, is a core value. The Islamic view doesn’t grant unlimited freedom to abort. Rather, it affirms that the unborn fetus has a right to life, especially after God breathes the soul into it.

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