Does the Quran allow abortion?
By A. Mohamed
By A. Mohamed
This article aims to answer the important question of whether abortion is allowed by God in the Quran or is it prohibited. And in case it is allowed, is there a cut-off point during the pregnancy after which abortion becomes unlawful?
Those who state that abortion is allowed they add that it is only allowed during the first three months of pregnancy. They explain that the soul is not placed in the fetus except after the third month of pregnancy.
Before addressing this view, and the subject of abortion as a whole, it is necessary to agree on fixed terminology. When abortion is discussed, there are various terms that are used interchangeably. Not all of those terms have Quranic reference. Since this paper aims to analyse abortion from a Quranic perspective, it is necessary to use Quranic terms and Quranic concepts.
Soul vs Self
The Quranic word "nafs" is the 'self'. In contrast, the word "soul" is more of a Biblical word that has no Quranic equivalent. For that, it is more accurate to confine this research to the word 'self'. Some have also used the word 'soul' as a translation of the Quranic word Ruh. This is also inaccurate simply because the Quran states that knowledge of the Ruh rests with God alone (17:85). Naturally, if we have no knowledge regarding what exactly the Ruh is, to translate the word Ruh into any English word, which ultimately suggests a specific meaning, would be misleading. If the meaning of a Quranic word is unknown, it should not be translated, but left as it is.
In addition, since we do not know what the Ruh is, it also follows that we have no knowledge as to when the Ruh is present and when it is absent. All claims to the contrary are no more than speculations.
In contrast, the Quran tells us that the 'nafs' (self) is the real person and is independent of the physical body.
1- This is apparent from many verses that state that God takes the nafs of the human being at the time of death and also at the time of sleep:
God takes back the selves at the time of their death and also of those who have not died during their sleep. 39:42
The fact that the self goes back to God while the physical body remains on earth confirms that the, physical body and self, are independent entities.
2- The fact that the self is the real person and not the physical body is also confirmed in the verses that state that it is the self and not the physical body that will be judged and held accountable, once again because the self is the real person:
That is when every self will be put to trial for what it had previously done. 10:30
The above leads us to use the word self and not soul, spirit or ruh.
Human vs Person
The Arabic word 'Insan', used in the Quran 65 times, means 'human being'. This word encompasses all what makes a living human throughout his life on earth. This includes the human body, the self, and the Ruh which God blows into the human being (15:29) to grant him life. In contrast, the word 'person' does not have a definitive equivalent in the Quran. For that reason, the word 'human being' will be the word to use in this research.
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The claim that abortion does not violate Quranic law if performed during the first three months of pregnancy has been advocated by various writers. In order to facilitate reference to this group of writers in this article, this claim will be referred to as 3MA (three months abortion).
Claim 1: The fetus does not have a soul except after three months
To justify this claim, the proponents of the 3MA refer to the following 2 verses:
We instructed the human being to treat his parents kindly. His mother bore him
laboriously and gave birth to him laboriously. Carrying him and weaning him takes thirty months. 46:15
Mothers may suckle their infants two full years should they elect to complete such a period of suckling. 2:233
The calculation:
- Pregnancy + weaning = 30 months (46:15)
- Weaning = 2 years, or 24 months (2:233)
As a result, the time of pregnancy can be calculated as follows:
30-24 = 6 months
They add that since the normal pregnancy period is 9 months, therefore the period of pregnancy that is not considered to bear a soul is 3 months, or to be exact, 86 days.
Well, not exactly. Let us look into the correct analysis of the two verses:
The Analysis
1- The simplistic analysis above adds words that are not found in the verse. They do so to justify a desired interpretation. Neither of the two verses above speak directly or indirectly about the soul, the spirit, the nafs (self) or any other similar derivative. To add the word 'soul' to the interpretation of the two verses is an encroachment on the Quranic text. It follows that any conclusion arrived at by adding any terms that are foreign to God's words are not verified, justified or valid.
2- The calculation used above regards the two year period of weaning (2:233) to be a fixed constant. And so, when the 24 months of weaning (2:233) were subtracted from the 30 months (46:15), the remaining months left for pregnancy were 6 months. This was somehow interpreted to mean that the fetus has a soul only during the last 6 months of pregnancy.
There are a number of problematic issues that result from such an interpretation. One obvious error is that the weaning period is not a fixed two year period. This assumption is based on the wrong interpretation of 2:233. So let us examine this verse:
Mothers may suckle their infants two full years if they wish to complete the suckling. 2:233
We need to focus on the word "may suckle" and also the words "if they wish to complete the suckling". These words affirm that the two years of suckling is a flexible voluntary period and that every mother is free to complete the full period or part of. What is not fixed should not be used as a fixed constant from which any conclusions are to be derived.
Many women, in fact the majority of women, suckle their babies for much less time. This is well within their rights. By doing so, they would not be breaking any Quranic laws.
In contrast, the pregnancy period of 9 months is not a voluntary period but applies to all women. Therefore, it would be more accurate to subtract the fixed 9 months of pregnancy from the 30 months. This would leave 21 months for weaning.
If that is so, why did God say that weaning can be in 2 years (24 months) in 2:233? The simple answer is that God gave mothers the choice to extend the weaning period to 24 months should they wish to do so.
That is exactly why we read the words "may suckle" (voluntary) and also the words "if they wish to complete the suckling" (voluntary).
The 21 months of weaning is therefore the standard period God designed for weaning. This can be extended by mothers by choice to a full 24 months.
Now let us consider the following scenario:
A woman finds that she is pregnant and decides that when her baby is born she will complete the full 24 months of weaning, as per 2:233. Would that mean that she can only be pregnant for 6 months so as to keep the total at 30 months as per 46:15?
Obviously not, she will still have a 9 months pregnancy. The result is that for such a mother "carrying and weaning" her child will extend to 33 months (24+9).
This very plausible scenario confirms that it is the period of pregnancy (9 months) that is the fixed constant while the period of weaning is the flexible. Thus, the process of subtracting what is flexible (24 months weaning) from the 30 months does not produce any reliable conclusions.
For the two reasons above, the claim that the 2 verses above indicate 6 months of soul-bearing pregnancy is totally invalid.
Claim 2: The fetus is not a human being except after 3 months
Despite the fact that none of the words in 46:15 and 2:233, nor in all the Quran, say directly or indirectly that the self or the human being does not come into existence except after 3 months of pregnancy, somehow it is also claimed that the fetus does not become a human being except after 3 months of pregnancy. It is then stated that before the end of the third month of pregnancy what is in the mother's womb is only a piece of flesh without a soul.
The Analysis
The claim above is totally debunked in the following Quranic words:
1- We instructed the human being to treat his parents kindly. His mother bore him laboriously and gave birth to him laboriously. Carrying him and weaning him takes thirty months. 46:15
It is very important to note the choice of words used by God in this verse. The words of the verse speak specifically about the "human being". The words go on to state that carrying "him" (the human being) and the weaning of "him" (the human being) takes 30 months. The words "carrying him" speaks of every day of the pregnancy and not only the last 6 months. Mothers do not start carrying the fetus in their womb after 3 months of pregnancy! As a result, the words in 46:15 tell us that throughout the period of pregnancy (9 months), what is inside the womb of the mother is a "human being". The conclusion of the above is that abortion, at any stage of pregnancy results in the killing of a "human being".
2- Now let us take a look at the following two groups of Quranic verses:
Group 1:
From among His signs is that He created you from dust, then behold, you are human beings spreading out. 30:20
He is the One who created you from clay then decreed a term; a term that is known to Him, yet you go on doubting. 6:2
When your Lord said to the angels, "I will create a human being from clay. 38:71
Group 2:
He is the One who designs you in the wombs as He wills. There is no other god except Him, the Dignified, the Wise. 3:6
He creates you in your mothers' wombs, creation after creation, in three realms of darkness. 39:6
He had full knowledge of you when He initiated you from the earth, and when you were embryos in your mothers' wombs. So do not claim purity for yourselves; He knows best who are the reverent ones. 53:32
The verses in group 1 provide information about what the human being is created from. God created the human being from dust and clay. Does that mean that the human being is clay or dust? The answer is no, the human being was only created from such earthly material but the human being ultimately becomes flesh and bones.
The verses in group 2 carry great significance. In these verses God is addressing the human being and using the words "designs you", "creates you" and "you were embryos".
The word "you", repeated in every verse in group 2, is of great significance. God is addressing every one of us and telling us that we were at one stage an embryo (53:32). The fact that the word "you" is ssigned to every stage of our creation inside the womb means that we were human beings from the first day of conception, albeit not fully developed yet. Indeed, the embryo is a living being and so is the fetus at every stage.
Note that in the verses in group 1, God never said 'you were dust' or 'you were clay', but that we were "created from clay". The contrast between this and the words "You were embryos" is significant. We were not dust during our creation, rather, we were created from dust. We will only become dust when we die, but that is when we cease to be human beings. In contrast, when we were embryos (53:32) we were human beings (46:15), and throughout the pregancy period we wre also human beings.
At every stage inside the womb, we were human beings. This once again affirms that abortion, at any stage, is killing a human being.
[17:31] Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them, as well as for you. Killing them is a gross mistake.
It can be shown that the prohibition to kill our "children" in 17:31 includes born babies as well as unborn babies who are killed through abortion.
1- As mentioned above, the words in 46:15 confirm that from the moment of conception, what is carried in the mother's womb is a human being. What is in the womb of the mother is the child of the mother from day one because from day one he is called a human being.
2- Now let us look at the following verses which narrate the story of Mary when Gabriel came to her to give her the news of the coming of her son Jesus. Initially, Mary was frightened when Gabriel appeared in front of her, to which Gabriel said:
He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to grant you a pure boy." 19:19
Then in 19:22 we read:
So she conceived him (boy), and she withdrew with him to a remote place. 19:22
The word "him" in 19:22 refers to the "boy" in 19:19. The phrase "when she conceived him" in 19:22 confirms that from the moment of conception, what was in the womb of Mary was a boy, or in other words, a human being.
Once again, this confirms that the command in 17:31 that says "Do not kill your children" applies to born children as well as unborn babies who are killed through abortion.
Significance of 17:31
[17:31] Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them, as well as for you. Killing them is a gross mistake.
It can be shown that the prohibition to kill our "children" in 17:31 includes born babies as well as unborn babies who are killed through abortion.
1- As mentioned above, the words in 46:15 confirm that from the moment of conception, what is carried in the mother's womb is a human being. What is in the womb of the mother is the child of the mother from day one because from day one he is called a human being.
2- Now let us look at the following verses which narrate the story of Mary when Gabriel came to her to give her the news of the coming of her son Jesus. Initially, Mary was frightened when Gabriel appeared in front of her, to which Gabriel said:
He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to grant you a pure boy." 19:19
Then in 19:22 we read:
So she conceived him (boy), and she withdrew with him to a remote place. 19:22
The word "him" in 19:22 refers to the "boy" in 19:19. The phrase "when she conceived him" in 19:22 confirms that from the moment of conception, what was in the womb of Mary was a boy, or in other words, a human being.
Once again, this confirms that the command in 17:31 that says "Do not kill your children" applies to born children as well as unborn babies who are killed through abortion.
Above all: The Divine Plan
It is God's will that an embryo is planted in the womb of the mother. When this happens, it becomes a Decree from God that a new human being is destined to come to life:
We settle in the wombs what We will for a specified term, then We bring you out as infants after which you reach your maturity. 22:5
The will of God that a new human being is born is the same on the first day of conception, 3 months into the pregnancy and also on the last day of pregnancy, except if God Himself wills otherwise (natural miscarriage, still birth, etc).
For any human being to terminate a pregnancy at any stage is to interfere with God's will. Nowhere in the Quran is there any authorisation for any human being to terminate what God deemed to be created in a mother's womb, which is a new human being.
To conclude, all claims that permit abortion, at any stage of the pregnancy, are products of the erroneous interpretations of various Quranic verses. All implications derived from such interpretations are invaild and must be ignored.