| Answer: Islam gives great sanctity to human life. After
conception, once the spirit has been blown in a human embryo and thereby it
becomes a living soul, it cannot be destroyed unless on some medical grounds a
doctor advises so. Before this spirit is blown, the human foetus is actually a
"non-living" mass of flesh and can be destroyed.
A Hadīth tells us that it is after 120 days (four months)
that an angel comes and blows the spirit in the human embryo:
Indeed the creation of each one of you is brought
together in the mother's belly for 40 days in the form of a sperm, then he is
a germ cell for a similar period, then an embryonic lump for a similar period;
then there is sent an angel who blows the breath of life into him... (Bukhārī,
Kitābu'l Qadr)
If this Hadīth is authentic, and there seems no reason to
believe otherwise, then abortion after 120 days can only and only take place
if a doctor advises it on medical grounds. |