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What is incumbent upon me and is expiation (kaffarah) due from me after intentionally aborting the fetus in the second month due to difficult living conditions and having eight children, while feeling intense remorse?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

First, the woman must repent to Allah Almighty for aborting her fetus. The obligation of blood money (Diyah) depends on the condition of the fetus at the time of the abortion.

If the abortion occurred after forty days of pregnancy, then the blood money for the fetus is obligatory. This is a "ghurrah": a male or female slave, valued at one-tenth of the mother's blood money (approximately 213 grams of gold). It is also recommended to perform expiation (kaffarah), which is freeing a slave or fasting for two consecutive months.

However, if the abortion occurred before forty days, then only repentance is obligatory, with no blood money or expiation.

The blood money is due from the woman's 'Aqilah (male relatives on the father's side, who are responsible for paying blood money), and its beneficiaries are the heirs of the fetus, excluding the offending mother. If the woman is unable to fast for expiation due to a permanent excuse, she must feed sixty poor people. If she is poor and unable to feed them, then nothing is required of her.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy