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Islam and abortion

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Written by Lynn Vincent

December 31, 10:37 AM

Egyptian law forbade abortion except to save the life of the mother or in the case of fetal abnormality. But the Cairo-based Islamic Research Council, a division of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, has issued a change: Any woman pregnant by rape must abort the baby immediately to maintain “social stability”.

That story, in the Daily Telegraph, got me wondering: What does Islam say about abortion?

Here’s a brief but comprehensive overview published by the BBC. Interestingly, I found myself wishing that Christian doctrine were as explicit on one point as Islamic doctrine: That a child should not be killed because its parents worry about how they will provide for it.

Topic: Religion, WorldMagBlog

Keywords: abortion, islam

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back to top11 Comments to “Islam and abortion”

BY krm 12.31.07 AT 11:01 AM

This appears to be one area where Islam has an essential agreement with the theology of its root religion (Christianity), although many Christians have strayed from holding to sound doctrine in this area.
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BY NJLawyer 12.31.07 AT 12:53 PM

And if you admit to having been with a man not your husband via rape, after the abortion, are you flogged?

Social stability? I kinda sorta see their point considering they respond to so much with violence. I suppose it could never occur to them to open their hearts to an innocent child.
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BY arcadia 12.31.07 AT 5:38 PM

Lynn: …as explicit as Christian doctrine…

Where is the explicit Christian biblical condemnation of abortion? Death penalties and all kinds of horrors are prescribed for what we now consider minor or even inoffensive acts, yet I find no explicit condemnation of abortion, and several passages which certainly can be read to indicate that an unborn fetus or even a small child is not even considered to be a human.
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BY Pauline 12.31.07 AT 5:42 PM

#3
Arcadia,
Exactly. Lynn says she wishes Christian doctrine were explicit on abortion.
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BY Kiyoshi 12.31.07 AT 7:25 PM

Perhaps Vincent should conform her personal opinions to those of Scripture, rather than demanding that Scripture conform to her own. Christianity, after all, is not a pietistic experiment in achieving personal holiness (as false religions often are). Christians trust in Christ’s imputed righteousness, not in their own.

If Vincent believes that the pietism of Islam is so attractive, then she ought to convert. I find it anathema, so I’ll keep trusting in Christ’s finished work in redeeming His elect.
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BY arcadia 12.31.07 AT 8:36 PM

Pauline: My apologies, as my post was inartfully phrased.

Nonetheless the implication of Lynn’s post is that Christian doctrine is explicit.

I don’t think so.
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BY Dav 01.01.08 AT 10:43 AM

I started to get interested in the post, and then caught myself. I don’t really care what Islam says. I’ve learned the basics of it because it is one of the main tools of Satan, but other than that, it has very little relevance in my life. I follow the one true living God –Jesus Christ, who is my Master; I don’t follow Satan, as Muslims do. Any overt interest in their wicked religion pulls me away from what my Lord teaches, and isn’t good.
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BY krm 01.01.08 AT 11:18 AM

Arcadia – Christian doctrine is clear that God gives life, that children are a gift from God, that God knows and “knits together” each child in the womb, and that killing innocents is wrong. Opposing abortion follows from these base ideas very readily.
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BY arcadia 01.01.08 AT 6:25 PM

KRM: That’s stringing together a pretty long bow. After all, if a prescriptive old testament God can get down into nitty-gritty details like what foods to eat, what fabrics to wear etc, and prescribe death penalties for a whole bunch of sins, don’t you think he would have directly prohibited and stated a penalty for taking what He considered to be a human life?

I respectfully submit that some humans have taken it upon themselves to make that determination on their own.

And I suspect that, despite some hesitation, you just might admit that “knitted together in the womb” is likely hyperbole, figurative or allegorical speech.

And aren’t crops and critters also “gifts from God”?
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BY krm 01.02.08 AT 11:53 AM

Arcadia – The Bible is not a long laundry list of dos and don’ts (the OT Mosaic Law stuff was provided to us precisely to show that humans don’t turn to God through such methods – they only generate phaisitism, outward form observance with inward heart sinful orientation abounding).

A seemless web sort of methodology is what we’re left with – and there is no way to condone killing the innocent unborn.
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BY krm 01.02.08 AT 11:54 AM

And yes, “knitted together” is likely more symbolic speach than grossly literal. It makes no difference.
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