𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 (385)

Abortion Due to Zina Question: A young man engaged in a relationship with a married woman. Sheikh Fat-h Al-Qadasi hafidahullah comments: In others words, they committed fornication, but it's being expressed in a modernised, softened manner. There is no need to soften this term; it is adultery—may Allāh grant us health and protection. (Continues reading the question): The woman became pregnant by him without his knowledge. Now, he wants her to abort the fetus, but she refuses. Sheikh: This is a calamity, and he wishes to turn one calamity into two. This woman has betrayed her husband and his bed, bringing into their home someone unrelated to her husband. She is an immoral adulteress—may Allāh grant us health and protection. The two parties involved must repent to Allāh ﷻ. Aborting the fetus is another grave calamity, as a woman is not permitted to abort a pregnancy even if it resulted from fornication. The Prophet ﷺ, when a woman pregnant from adultery came to him, instructed her guardian to wait until she gave birth. He did not permit abortion. After the child was born, the Prophet ﷺ instructed not to abandon the child, as the child needed its mother’s milk. He instructed the guardian to wait until the child no longer needed breastfeeding. When the child became independent, the Prophet ﷺ applied the prescribed punishment of stoning to the woman. This clearly indicates that abortion of a fetus conceived through adultery is not permissible. Unfortunately, many women, nurses, and pharmacists are lax regarding this issue. Many individuals come seeking abortion pills or injections, or ask healthcare providers to perform abortions because of adultery. This laxity amounts to cooperating in sin and aggression. One reason this crime is facilitated in society is that the woman who committed adultery feels secure or assured that she will be able to abort the fetus, as if nothing happened. Question: If the child is born and they attribute it to her lawful husband, will he (the fornicator) bear any sin? Sheikh: He (the fornicator) bears the sin of fornication and the sin of inserting someone not related to him (the lawful husband) as his own child. As for the Shari'ah ruling, as stated by the Prophet ﷺ: "The child belongs to the marriage bed, and the adulterer receives disgrace." This means the child is attributed to the lawful husband, not the adulterer who fathered the child.