Question:
My wife discovered
that she was pregnant after forty days had passed since conception. The X-ray examination
showed that the foetus (janīn) had by and large been subjected to deformity,
or indeed to different kinds of it. My wife aborted the foetus as a result, so
what is the ruling and does she owe any expiation (kaffārah)?
Answer (Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān
al-Būṭī):
First of all, there is
nothing wrong with an abortion that takes place within the first forty days
following conception, because it is permissible if both the husband and wife
agree, even though it is disliked (makrūh tanzīhī).[1]
Secondly, the Ḥanafī jurists have an opinion that many of them rely
upon, which is that an abortion is not unlawful within the first 120 days
following conception.
I say: it is possible
to follow this opinion in cases of necessity (ḍarūrah), such as what you have described in your
letter,[2]
and based on that there is nothing wrong with the matter and the abortion will
not have any consequences.
[Translated from Istiftāʾāt an-Nās lil-Imām ash-Shahīd al-Būṭī ʿalā Mawqiʿ Nasīm ash-Shām, p.175]
[1] (tn): i.e. it is
disliked in the sense that one is rewarded for leaving it and not liable to be
punished for doing it, as opposed to makrūh taḥrīmī, in which one is liable to be punished for
doing it but not at the level of that which is unlawful (ḥarām).
No comments:
Post a Comment