She aborted her abnormal fetus following her doctor's instructions

8-10-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

what is the judgment of obortion in my special case below? I got pregnant and during my 2nd month, doctors informed me that the baby is not normal and his brain is 3 times the size of his body and eventually will die either during pregnancy or once I deliver, as the brain will not be able to support the body so will die. I have aborted the baby as per my doctors instructions (checked with several doctors). Is this haram? what do I have to do to make up for that? pay fidyia? fast? or I was not supposed to do that anyway? Please let me know. Jazakum allahu khairan

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

We have already clarified in Fataawa 82981 and 81263 that it is not permissible to abort the child because of an abnormality in his formation as in this case there is no necessity that renders this prohibition permissible.

The statements of the doctors that the fetus will die during the pregnancy period or that it will die soon after it is born, then all this is not a sound reason for aborting it. In addition to this, the probabilities that the doctors predict sometimes do not happen; the born child may live and may benefit his parents.

It appears –Allaah Knows best –that you are wrong by accepting to abort the child, so you are obliged to repent and the one who carried out the abortion is obliged to pay the Diyah (blood money).

On the other hand, if you induced abortion yourself, like by drinking a medicine and the like, then you are obliged to pay the Diyah if the fetus was of human shape, and there is a difference of opinion among the scholars on fasting two consecutive months for expiating for that sin, but in order to be on the safe side, you are required to do it.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 85943 and 85558.  

Allaah Knows best.