Islamic Law

Islamic Law

The realm of of nafye haraj (there is no difficulty in Sharia) regarding the legality of abortion in law and jurisprudence

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Associate Professor - Member of Research Team - Research Center for Law and Islamic Jurisprudence - Academy of Islamic Sciences and Culture.
Abstract
According to the law, in cases where the fetus has abnormalities and is lifeless, causing unbearable distress to the mother, abortion is permitted. However, after the soul is breathed into the fetus, it gains the right to life and there is no preference given to the mother's life over the fetus, except in cases where the death of the mother would result in the death of the fetus. However, in cases where carrying a healthy fetus would pose significant difficulties for the mother, the permissibility of abortion, even before the breath is given to the soul, is ambiguous and unclear under the law . In order to resolve ambiguities, one may refer to the opinions of experts in religious jurisprudence. Due to the lack of sufficient evidence for the prohibition of abortion, some religious scholars have aligned themselves with the permissibility of abortion. This goes against the previously established rule of therapeutic abortion, expanding the permissibility to cases involving the health of the fetus. However, since the concept of "health" does not have a clear and definitive criterion and various opinions exist within religious jurisprudence, it is preferable to amend the law and seek clarification rather than relying solely on religious jurisprudence.
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