Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem,
We write this letter to our beloved community on behalf of a collective group of women studying Islamic disciplines at Darul Qasim. We are women who proudly occupy many roles – from lawyers, doctors, students, mothers, wives, daughters, to Muslimahs. But it is our roles as women in Islam that serve as our greatest source of strength, belief, and salvation.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a case which stood for American women’s rights to make their own reproductive choices. In response, we witnessed the Muslim community struggle as it sifted through a prevalence of misunderstandings about the Islamic perspective on abortion. Now, with a charged political landscape, reproductive freedom has again become an oft-discussed, but little-understood topic amongst Muslim Americans.
As we navigate the rapidly shifting social dynamics in our country, it is imperative for us and Muslim women at large to think about, understand, and embrace Islam’s view on women’s rights and reproductive matters. In forming our opinions about these topics, we should avoid emotional, social, and political arguments from influencing our perspectives. Abortion is a complex and weighty topic within Islam, one that is both a theological and legal issue, consisting of many fiqhi rulings and proofs. For these reasons, we must seek out guidance on abortion only from Muslim scholars, both men and women, who are traditionally and appropriately trained in Islamic law and ethics and as a result, have legitimate authority to speak on these matters.
As Muslims, our perspectives, principles, and beliefs are firmly rooted in Islam. Islamic law, or fiqh, provides us with a comprehensive framework that defines our understanding of ethics, responsibilities, and the sanctity of life. This perspective informs all aspects of our lives, including how we approach sensitive issues related to our bodies, health, and personal decisions. Western society tells us that our bodies belong to ourselves and that choice is the single moral guideline to use when making decisions concerning our bodies. We must reject this way of thinking as Muslim women and propose the Islamic framework, which is more ethical, more just, and more virtuous for us as Muslim women.
Our bodies are an amānah (trust) from Allah (swt) to us. Our bodies do not belong to us. Our bodies belong to The Almighty and are in submission to our Creator. The choices we make regarding our bodies must be led– not by our own individualistic ways of thinking– but by Islamic ethics and rulings that prioritize our accountability before Allah. This perspective goes beyond centering the notion of individual choice, emphasizing instead our connection with divine will and purpose.
Many American Muslims who operate within a two-party system — a system which polarizes societal issues into extremes without balancing ethical considerations — often find themselves attempting to fit their traditional Islamic beliefs under a label that appeases Western and liberal notions. They seek to identify Islamic values to affiliate themselves with certain groups and ideologies, whether that be the right, left, liberals, progressives, or conservatives. This way of thinking, however, mistakenly assumes that our divine Islamic principles and rulings fit within the confines of Western ideologies and rhetoric.
When it comes to the topic of abortion, we see a similar phenomenon. Abortion has been pigeonholed to either a “pro-life” or “pro-choice” movement. Without understanding the legal and moral implications, many Muslims attempt to resonate with these movements, despite their principles being inconsistent with the Islamic framework.
We must challenge ourselves and our community to think more deeply and critically about the issue of abortion. In particular, we must study our dīn and reflect upon Islam’s superior framework that presents a more just solution.
Islam’s framework regarding reproductive decisions holistically centers the sanctity of human life, both of the mother and child’s, within the temporary worldly life and the eternal Afterlife.
The Islamic rulings on abortion are founded on several key principles, which are derived by Islamic jurists from the Holy Qur’an, Sunnah (teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s)) , Ijmā’ (consensus of the scholars), and Qiyās (legal analogy between rulings). From these sources of knowledge, the jurists adopt these principles as a framework to establish the rules of abortion and derive fatāwa (ruling in response to an individual) to guide women’s circumstances. These principles include:
- The stages of human existence as defined by the Qur’an and Sunnah
- The preservation and promotion of human life
- The impermissibility of ending human life without justification.
Scholars also consider factors such as the context of the conception (such as cases involving coercion, rape, or incest), the preservation of lineage, and the health of the expecting mother.
Our scholars have concluded that abortion after the fetus is considered to be a fully sanctioned human life is categorically a sin, and is considered to be the unjust taking of a human life. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and particularized. There is diversity between the scholarly opinions as to the maximum days after conception before an induced abortion becomes impermissible, depending on when they consider the fetus to be a complete human life after conception. Because of these nuances and rulings, expecting women and families that are engaging in pregnancy decision-making must fulfill their moral duty to seek Islamic scholarship and medical expertise in order to make an Islamically-rooted decision.
We note that the fiqh of abortion is far beyond what we can summarize in this piece — our purpose is to encourage our community to understand and appreciate that there is a vast and enriching treasure of knowledge from which we may understand issues around our rights, our bodies, and our reproductive health. Our reproductive decisions cannot be led by secular ideologies. We must align them with Islamic values, centering both this life and the Afterlife in our decisions. Sound knowledge must inform our stances and our decisions; no matter how difficult and confusing these times may be, our bodies are an amānah that God has entrusted us with. The trust between our souls and Allah is sacred. Let us honor this sacred trust.
In seeking sources of sound knowledge, we urge our communities to reflect on the frameworks which often inform the messaging around women’s rights and abortion. While there are organizations that appear to assert a “Muslim” stance on abortion and reproductive matters, we must be wary of stances and slogans which are premised on ideas and sentiments that are not found within the mainstream Islamic tradition and overly propagate perspectives that stem from secular ideologies, instead of Islam. We cannot limit ourselves to organizations which seek to define Islamic rulings within the confines of western paradigms.
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) spoke to the honor of Muslim women. In his final sermon, he addressed the men in his ummah regarding their women saying, “Indeed, their right over you is that you show goodness to them.” As illustrated from our Prophet (s)’s teachings, our deen offers a complete and compassionate approach to womanhood and health. By building communities that are grounded in faith, we can foster environments of true support, mentorship, and care—places where we are empowered through our connection to Allah and to each other, in a way that is fully aligned with our beliefs and values. And, in a way that truly honors our sacred bodies.
For those who seek to learn more on this topic, we encourage engaging with Aisha Fatima Community and the Darul Iftā’ at Darul Qasim. Through the Darul Iftā’ program at Darul Qasim, one can privately submit their questions and dilemmas to a trained team of muftis who will provide guidance and a personalized fatwa.