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Is the questioner burdened by sin for having aborted four times, knowing that she was suffering from a severe mental illness that deprived her of awareness and perception?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Unintentional miscarriage carries no sin. However, intentional abortion is forbidden unless there is a necessity. If an abortion is intentionally performed after 40 days, blood money (diyah) is obligatory, and it is recommended to perform expiation (kaffarah) (freeing a slave or fasting for two consecutive months). The diyah is waived for the mother who caused the abortion, but the kaffarah is not. The diyah is obligatory upon the 'aqilah (male relatives on the father's side) of the perpetrator according to the Hanafis and Shafi'is, and upon the perpetrator himself according to the Malikis. The Hanbalis, however, differentiated between intentional and unintentional acts. The diyah for the fetus is a "ghurrah": a male or female slave, and its value is estimated at one-twentieth of a full diyah. The heir to this diyah is the father, not the mother who caused it.

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

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