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What is the ruling on abortion in Islam, and when is it permissible to abort a fetus with the agreement of both spouses?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Aborting the fetus after 120 days is forbidden by consensus and is considered murder, unless the mother's life is in grave danger or the fetus has died in her womb.

Aborting the fetus after 40 days and before 120 days is forbidden according to the preponderant opinion, although it does not reach the degree of murder.

Aborting the fetus before 40 days is forbidden according to the preponderant opinion, except for a legitimate interest or to avert an expected harm. It is not permissible due to fear of hardship in raising the child or being content with the number of children.

The agreement of the spouses does not permit forbidden abortion. However, in the case of a forbidden abortion, the prohibition becomes greater if one spouse acts independently without the consent of the other, and the other party has the right to blood money (Diyah).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy