There are many genetic disorders for which currently no cure is available, but diagnosis is possible. Some of these disorders, when confirmed, may require termination of pregnancy. What is your opinion on this important issue in the light of Islamic teachings: can abortion be allowed on medical grounds?
In 1983, a conference was held in Kuwait in which specialized doctors of medicine and Islamic scholars took part. One of the most important subject discussed was abortion. There was a great deal of discussion on the various aspects of abortion and when it can be considered appropriate.
From the findings of that conference it can be concluded that abortion is permissible if the continuation of pregnancy poses a real threat to the life of the mother. In this case, abortion can be performed at any stage during the pregnancy, and as soon as it is clear that termination of pregnancy is the only way to save the life of the mother.
As for other medical conditions, scholars differed a great deal on this issue. It is however, remarkable that the proceedings show that gynecologists and obstetricians who also have sound Islamic knowledge took a stronger attitude opposing abortion at any stage of the pregnancy. Scholars of Fiqh could find room for a more understandable attitude.
They gave different verdicts for different stages of the pregnancy. Most of them say that abortion is forbidden after 120 days of conception. Others say that this prohibition begins after 45 days. Both groups define the limit which they favor on the basis of a certain Hadith. The one which speaks of 120 days may be given in translation as follows:
"Indeed, the creation of each one of you is brought together in the mother's belly for 40 days in the form of a drop of sperm, then he is a germ-cell for a like period, then an embryonic lump for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him and who is commanded about four matters: to write down his means of livelihood, his life span, his actions and whether happy or unhappy.
By Allah, other than whom there is no God, one of you may behave like the people of paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of hell fire and thus he enters it; and one of you behaves like the people of hell fire until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of paradise and thus he enters it." (Related by Al Bukhari & Muslim.)
We note that the Prophet speaks of three stages of forty days each before spirit is blown into the embryo. It is on this basis that some scholars consider that abortion on medical grounds is permissible at this stage.
• Accidents: Scope of accidental killing
Someone bought an electric immersion water heater, but plugged it wrongly when using it with a two-pin outlet. He mistakenly connected the earth wire to the neutral wire, instead of disconnecting it completely. This meant that when the heater was put in a bucket to heat the water, the current passed through the body of the heater. One day a new maid wanted to check whether the water was hot enough, but she got electrocuted and died. Does the ruling of accidental killing apply in this case? Her employer has paid compensation to her family at the time, but is he required to do anything else under the rules on accidental killing? Do these rules apply in the case of a man crossing the highway but is run over by a car driving at high speed?
The rules of accidental killing apply when a person does something that does not normally lead to death, but results in the killing of someone he had no intention to kill. Someone may push another person, and in the overwhelming majority of cases such a push does not cause more than a step or two backward and adjustment of one’s balance. However, in this particular case, the person so pushed steps over a stone and loses balance completely. As he falls he hits his head against the hard pavement, or a lamppost and dies of the impact. When the first person pushes the other, he has no intention of killing him, but his action results in his death. That is accidental killing.
It requires atonement in the form of freeing a slave who is a believer, and paying blood money to the family of the deceased. If he cannot find a slave to release from bondage, either because he cannot afford to buy one or because of the non-availability of slaves, since slavery has been abolished by God’s grace, then he must fast for two months without intermission.
In the case we are looking at, the man simply did the wiring wrongly, which action resulted in the death of his maid. When he did so, he did not even know the maid, which was to die as a result of his action. That is accidental killing. He has to atone for his mistake, which came about by connecting a live electric wire the wrong way. The compensation is in two parts. The first is the payment of blood money. The man says that he paid compensation to the woman’s family, but was that the full amount of blood money for accidental killing? If it was a small amount, which he decided, then he has to complete it to the full amount of blood money, unless her family is willing to forego part or all of that blood money. As she was a maid, then her people are probably poor and they may accept a lesser amount if they do not know what they are entitled to receive. He must not try to lessen his liability at their expense. He must give them the indemnity they deserve.
The other point is the freeing of a slave, which is not available to anyone these days. Hence, the other option applies, which is to fast for two consecutive months in a gesture of repentance. The word, "consecutive", is important. These must be completed without interruption, except through illness. If he fasts for 55 days, or even 57 days and then he interrupts his fasting for no valid reason, i.e. gets ill after having fasted for a number of days, he resumes his fasting as soon as he recovers and regains his strength.
These rules apply, as we have said, to all accidental killing, including traffic accidents. If a person crosses the highway at the wrong place and gets run over by a car, then that is accidental killing. If the pedestrian shoulders the blame, wholly or partly, then a judge will determine whether compensation is due or not, and its amount. However, the fasting part is necessary in practically all cases of accidental killing.
• Accountability: Role model and the acts of his followers
Someone else, like a younger brother or a junior colleague takes a person who commits an offense as a role model. Is he liable to account for those who follow his example?
There are two principles that apply here. The first is that each person shall be responsible for his or her own actions. "No one shall bear the burden of another," as the Qur’an states more than once. The other principle is that of bearing the responsibility for setting an example. The Prophet, peace be upon him, says: "Whoever sets a good example shall have its reward as well as the reward of every one who follows his suit until the Day of Judgment, without reducing their reward in any way; and whoever sets a bad example shall bear its sin together with the sin of all those who follow his suit until the Day of Judgment, without reducing their sin in any way."
What this means is that the one who sets a bad example shall bear the burden of what he does and will be punished for every time someone else follows his bad example. But every one who follows him will also bear the blame for his own actions. The same applies in reverse with regard to setting a good example.
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