Is it permissible to abort pregnancy resulting from adultery; before forty days of gestational age? How can this problem be solved and what are the proper means to do that?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
Once the sperm is made into a clot of congealed blood, the fetus acquires sanctity and it is not permissible to transgress against it because it constitutes the start of a human being. Aborting a fetus is forbidden by Sharia as well as man-made laws. This is unless the life of the mother is at risk because of this pregnancy and the fetus hasn`t reached four months of age. However, aborting a fetus because it resulted from an illegal sexual intercourse is punishing the innocent, not the true criminals. It isn`t the fetus`s fault, it is the adulterers`. In addition, it is extreme injustice to punish the innocent and exonerate the criminal. Had the penalty prescribed in the Quran for this heinous sin been implemented, people would have never committed it.
This problem can be addressed by adhering to the provisions of Sharia as regards the mixing between the two sexes and implementing the suitable punishments on whoever transgresses the limits of Allah. This is in addition to creating care homes for such children who were wronged by rebellious and disobedient individuals. These institutions should be keen on guiding these children to the way of Allah so as not to have the same fate of those who had caused them to be brought to this world. The Messenger of Allah has told the truth when he stated: "Implementing a punishment on earth is better for the people than to receive rain for thirty or forty mornings." {Related by Ahmad}. And Allah the Almighty knows best.