Termination of pregnancy in Islamic jurisprudence

What it is

Muslims regard abortion as wrong and haram, but many accept that it may be permitted in certain cases.

The pivot is 120 days. Muslim jurists have deduced that the first four months, 120 days, of gestation is the crucial time period. After this the fetus is regarded as being alive and an abortion is not permissible for any reason whatsoever; should an abortion be done then it would be considered murder.

What is permitted and what is not rests on how the fetus is formed, set out in Sura Al-Mumenoon, verses 12 to 14: (And certainly We created man of an extract of clay, Then We made him a small seed in a firm resting-place, Then We made the seed a clot, then We made a lump of flesh, then We made (in) the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We caused it to grow into another creation, so blessed be Allah, the best of the creators).

Prenatal development refers to the process in which a baby develops from a single cell after conception into an embryo and later a fetus, and the stages are set against the weeks:

• 1) Small seed, week 4
• 2) A clot, week 5
• 3) Lump of flesh, week 6
• 4) Bones, week 7
• 5) Bones with flesh, week 7 to 8
• 6) Another creation or fetus, week 8