Back to search

Is diya (blood money) or kaffarah (expiation) obligatory upon the wife and the deceased husband for the abortion of three fetuses after the fourth month of pregnancy? And is diya paid for each fetus? What is its amount, and to whom is it paid? And what is the ruling regarding the deceased husband in this case?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Abortion after the ensoulment is a major sin and the killing of an innocent soul. One must repent from it. Everyone involved in the abortion must pay blood money (diyah) for each fetus, which is one-tenth of the mother's blood money, and it is paid to the fetus's heirs, excluding those directly involved in the killing. The obligation of expiation (kaffarah) is a matter of scholarly disagreement, but it is more prudent to perform it. The expiation multiplies with the number of fetuses.

If the woman herself carried out the abortion, she is liable for the aforementioned blood money and expiation. If she did not carry it out directly, she only needs to repent. In this case, the blood money and expiation fall upon the physician who directly performed the abortion. The husband is not liable for blood money or expiation as long as he did not directly carry out the abortion.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy