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Unlock This CourseThe Sanctity of Life and Abortion explained that sanctity of life means life is holy and precious, and covered the law on abortion in the United Kingdom. This lesson gives the Muslim teachings and the different views found among Muslims.
Muslims believe that life is a gift from Allah. He gives it, and only he has the right to end it. Human life has a special value because, as Body, Nafs and Qalb: Human Nature in Islam showed, Allah shaped the first human and breathed the ruh (spirit) into him, and the Qur'an says humans were made in the best of forms. Human beings are also Allah's khalifah (trusted stewards), so they must protect life, not destroy it.
Key terms:
This verse says that whoever kills one person, other than as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land, it is as if they had killed all of humankind. Whoever saves one life, it is as if they had saved all of humankind. Muslims take this to mean that every single life is of enormous value.
This verse says: do not kill your children for fear of poverty, because Allah provides for them and for you. Muslims use it to teach that fear of money problems does not make it right to end a child's life.
Muslims also point to Qur'an 17:33, which says that Allah has made life sacred and that it may only be taken by right, which means for the lawful reasons set out in Islamic law. This is why most Muslims see killing as a very serious sin.
The Qur'an has no verse that mentions abortion directly. Muslim scholars therefore use the verses above, the hadith (reports of what Muhammad said and did) and the work of earlier ulama to decide what is allowed.
What all scholars agree. All scholars allow abortion if it is needed to save the mother's life. The mother is already a living person with duties and a family, and Islamic law teaches that the greater harm must be avoided.
Ensoulment. A well-known hadith says that the baby is formed in the womb in stages. It is a drop for forty days, then a clinging clot for forty days, then a lump of flesh for forty days. After that an angel is sent to breathe in the ruh. That makes 120 days, or about four months. Some scholars use another report and say that ensoulment happens earlier, from 40 days.
This idea is central to the Muslim debate:
Many scholars allow abortion before 120 days (or 40 days, for the scholars who say that) but only for serious reasons, such as a risk to the mother's health. Their view is that the ruh has not yet been given, so the baby does not yet have the full status of a human life.
Other scholars forbid abortion at every stage. They say that the growing baby is already on the way to becoming a human being, so it must be protected from the start.
After ensoulment abortion is forbidden, except to save the mother's life. Ending the life of a person who has a soul is like killing, which Qur'an 5:32 treats as most serious.
Do not write that Islam allows or bans abortion in a single way: always say that all scholars allow it to save the mother's life, and that views differ on other cases. Do not say the Qur'an mentions abortion by name. Do not mix up the two numbers: 120 days is the usual date for ensoulment, and 40 days is the earlier view held by some scholars. Do not say that Qur'an 5:32 is about abortion: it is about killing, and Muslims use it to show the value of life.
Paper 1 style. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three teachings of Islam about the sanctity of life. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two reasons why some people in this religion are against abortion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why there are different attitudes to abortion in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'Abortion should never be allowed.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. Life is a gift from Allah (1). 2. Only Allah should take life (1). 3. Killing one person is like killing all humankind (1).
(b) Some Muslims are against abortion because life is sacred (1), as the Qur'an says that killing one person is like killing all humankind (1). Some are against it because the growing baby is already on the way to becoming a human being (1), so it must be protected from the start (1).
(c) There are different attitudes to abortion among Muslims because the Qur'an does not mention it, so scholars have to use other evidence. Many scholars use the hadith that says the ruh is given at 120 days, so they allow abortion before this for serious reasons, while others say it is forbidden at any stage.
The schools of law also read the evidence differently. For example, the Hanafi school traditionally allowed early abortion but many Maliki scholars were stricter. Some scholars say ensoulment happens at 40 days instead of 120, which changes how long abortion is allowed. Countries also have different laws. All scholars agree, however, that abortion is allowed to save the mother's life and that after ensoulment it is forbidden otherwise.
(d) Plan. For: Qur'an 5:32 and 17:31 teach that life is sacred and that fear of hardship does not justify killing; Allah gives and takes life, so humans should not decide who lives; some Muslim scholars forbid abortion at every stage.
Against: all Muslim scholars allow abortion to save the mother's life, so 'never' is wrong in Islam; many allow it before ensoulment for serious reasons; the mother is already a person with duties and a family; non-religious people may argue that the woman's choice and quality of life matter (see The Sanctity of Life and Abortion).
Possible conclusion: weigh the points, then pick a side. For example: I disagree with 'never'. Islamic teaching on the sanctity of life is very strong, but all scholars accept abortion to save the mother's life, so the statement goes too far, even though many Muslims would say abortion should be rare.
In part (c), do not just say that Muslims disagree. Give the reasons: no Qur'an verse on abortion, ensoulment at 120 or 40 days, and different schools of law.