A human egg moves down during the process of fertilization followed by acrosome reaction to turn into a hanging embryo (attaching to women’s womb) and the duration is about 6 days.
[Quran 22:5] O people, if you have any doubt about resurrection, (remember that) we created you from dust, and subsequently from a tiny drop, which turns into a hanging (embryo), then it becomes a fetus that is given life or deemed lifeless. We thus clarify things for you. We settle in the wombs whatever we will for a predetermined period. We then bring you out as infants, then you reach maturity. While some of you die young, others live to the worst age, only to find out that no more knowledge can be attained beyond a certain limit. Also, you look at a land that is dead, then as soon as we shower it with water, it vibrates with life and grows all kinds of beautiful plants.
[Quran 23:14] Then we developed the drop into a hanging (embryo), then developed the hanging (embryo) into a bite-size (fetus), then created the bite-size (fetus) into bones , then covered the bones with flesh. We thus produce a new creature. Most blessed is God, the best Creator.
[Quran 96:2] He created man from an embryo.
Killing is forbidden
Killing is one of those what God has prohibited in the Quran. Thus, killing any person including the unborn children is a gross sin as reflected in the following verses of the Quran:
[Quran 6:151] Say: “You shall come, I will recite what has prohibited your Lord for you that you should not associate anything with Him, and should be good with the parents; and you should not kill your children for fear of poverty, we provide for you and for them; and you should not go near the immodesties, what has noticed of them or what has concealed; and you should not kill the soul, which God has forbidden except of the justice. That, He has enjoined you that you may think.”
[Quran 17:31] And you are not to kill your children (unborn) for fear of poverty; we provide for them and for you. Indeed, their killing is a gross sin.
[Quran 17:33] And you are not to kill the life, which God has forbidden, except in the course of justice. And whoever has been killed unjustly, then we have given authority for his heir, while he should not exceed in the killing. Indeed, he has been helped.
The Exception
As we all know, every rule has an exception including the religious laws. After all attempts are made to save both the mother and the unborn child, and under unusual situations, abortion may be allowed to save the mother’s life. Under these circumstances, this is permitted at any time during the pregnancy from the hanging embryo stage to the full grown unborn baby. It is noted that the fertilization process after acrosome reaction lasts for 6 days when the egg turns into a hanging embryo and the life starts from this stage as God created man from an embryo (96:2) and has also taught us that whatever He settles in the wombs for a predetermined period according to His will (22:5). It is interesting to note that the verses that enact the rule have also the exception (6:151, 17:31).
Killing the soul or the body!!
Some argued, on no basis but fabricated hadiths, that the fetus in the first four months do not have a soul yet and therefore it is permissible to kill him/her. They do not realize that the soul has nothing to do with abortion. In abortion, you are dealing with the physical body and itslife; you are destroying the physical body of the fetus not the soul. We cannot kill the soul even if we try. Whether the soul entered the fetus body in the first minute of life or after four months of pregnancy is irrelevant to the abortion issue.
Conclusion
God has prohibited the killing of any person including both born and unborn children irrespective of pregnancy period (6:151, 17:31, 6:140, 60:12), i.e. abortion is murder while it is allowed under unusual situations if it is unintentional as well as not from fear of poverty (6:151, 17:31), and God is the Most Merciful and He always leaves room for us so we can obey Him and follow His laws. However, in abortion, we are only destroying the physical body of the fetus not the soul, even if we wish, we will not able to do that. Moreover, any attempt to avoid possible pregnancy within 6 days period during the process of fertilization (conception) may not be considered murder per 22:5 as whatever is settled in the wombs for the predetermined period, and according to Langman’s Medical Embryology, T. W. Sadler, Page 88, 1985 the length of pregnancy for a full term fetus is 266 (19x14) days or 38 weeks (19x2).
May God bless us to interpret His laws correctly.
Tafazzal