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What is the ruling on aborting a fetus resulting from an illegitimate relationship for a married woman, knowing that the age of the fetus was less than four months? And what is the ruling on assisting this woman in the abortion, while observing the limits of Allah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Abortion is prohibited at any stage of the fetus's development, and the prohibition intensifies after the ensoulment. Sincere repentance (Tawbah Nasuh) is obligatory for whoever performed or assisted in the abortion. Blood money (Diyah) is obligatory for whoever performed the abortion, and its value is one-tenth of the mother's Diyah. It is to be paid to the fetus's heirs, excluding anyone who participated in the abortion, such as the mother and the father if the pregnancy resulted from an illicit relationship. The fetus's heirs are the heirs of its mother if she were to die. Scholars have differed on the obligation of expiation (Kaffarah), and it is more prudent to perform it. Diyah becomes obligatory after the formation of the fetus, even if the soul has not yet been ensouled. Assisting in abortion includes informing others about helping a woman get to the hospital for the purpose of abortion, or a doctor directly injecting a woman with something that aborts her fetus, or the woman herself taking something that aborts it.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy