There is much debate over this topic whether abortion is permitted in Islam, and if so, is there a stage in the pregnancy where abortion becomes unlawful? The argument is that abortion is permitted up until the soul enters the fetus’s body. 

 

So at what point does the soul enter the fetus of an unborn baby? Many scholars place the point of ensoulment at 4 months after conception.

 

So let’s closely analyze this claim in light of the Quran. 

 

Many Scholars use verse 23:14 in support of their claim, that the soul enters the body after the fetus has bones and flesh. 

 

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 23:14

 

Scholars further use a hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari no: 3036) that calculates the exact time a “new creature is produced” and that is at day 120! 

 

So let’s go back and study the Quran some more. 

 

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 23:14

 

Firstly, God did NOT inform us of the exact time the soul enters into a new human being.

 

Secondly, by studying verse 23:14 carefully it becomes obvious that the creation starts from a drop developing into a hanging embryo and ends when God “covered the bones with flesh.” 

 

God is talking about a new creature being born into the world when He says: “We thus produce a new creature.”

 

This is not just another stage in the womb where the soul enters but in fact AFTER the new creation is brought out of the womb. 

 

This analysis is further confirmed by reading the following verse, 23:15;

​

Then, later on, you die.

~ Quran 23:15

 

In order to die, we must first have been born! 

 

This completely exposes the hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari no: 3036) as nothing but fabrications to God’s Truth, due to lack of knowledge. 

 

Did you know the skin of the human being starts to form as early as 4 weeks gestation? Bone tissue starts forming and a map of an entire skeleton has been laid out by 5 weeks gestation. Both the skin and the bone continue to develop & change throughout the pregnancy, with bone even changing and shifting during and well after the birth! 

 

Moving on, let’s consider the fact God constantly mentions our belief as being in the heart. 

 

The Arabs said, "We are Mu'mens (believers)." Say, "You have not believed; what you should say is, `We are Muslims (submitters),' until belief is established in your hearts." If you obey GOD and His messenger, He will not put any of your works to waste. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

~ Quran 49:14

 

If GOD renders one's heart content with Submission, he will be following a light from his Lord. Therefore, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against GOD's message; they have gone far astray.

~ Quran 39:22

 

Some of them listen to you, but we place veils on their hearts to prevent them from understanding, and deafness in their ears. Thus, no matter what kind of proof they see, they cannot believe. Thus, when they come to argue with you, the disbelievers say, "These are tales from the past.

~ 6:25

 

Did they not roam the earth, then use their minds to understand, and use their ears to hear? Indeed, the real blindness is not the blindness of the eyes, but the blindness of the hearts inside the chests.

~ Quran 22:46

 

Surely, those who lower their voices at the messenger of GOD are the ones whose hearts are prepared by GOD to become righteous. They have deserved forgiveness and a great recompense.

~ Quran 49:3

 

God advises the believers:

3:126 - Our hearts are assured 

3:154 - God tests what is in your hearts 

8:2 - Our hearts tremble when God is mentioned 

13:28 - Our hearts rejoice in remembering God

22:32 - Our hearts are righteous 

22:54 - Our hearts will readily accept the truth

23:60 - Our hearts are fully reverent 

49:4 - Contentment is placed into our hearts 

58:22 - He decrees faith into our hearts 

66:4 - Our hearts have listened 

 

God advises the disbelievers:

2:74 - Their hearts are hardened 

3:7 - Their hearts harbour doubts

3:151 - Terror is thrown into the hearts

5:41 - Their hearts do not believe

6:25 - We place veils on their hearts 

7:101 - Their hearts are sealed 

9:77 - Hypocrisy is in their hearts 

9:127 - God has diverted their hearts 

33:32 - There is a disease in their hearts 

59:14 - Their hearts are divided

 

Belief in God comes from our heart! Our heart is literally our lifeline. Our heart and soul go hand in hand. We can conclude in the process of creation that the soul enters our bodies and causes our heart to start beating.

 

Did you know a baby's heart actually starts beating as early as 22 days after she’s conceived? Would you really consider a human being with a beating heart lifeless, soulless, or not deemed life yet? By the time the pregnant woman gets a positive result on a pregnancy test, there’s a high chance her baby’s heart is already beating and her baby is thriving with life!

 

Further, God confirms we are considered human beings the entire time we are in the womb, by referring to us as "him", whether inside or outside the womb: 

 

We instructed the human being to treat his parents kindly. His mother bore him laboriously and gave birth to him laboriously. Carrying him and weaning him takes thirty months.

~ Quran 46:15

 

God also addresses us as human beings from when we were in the womb, as "you":

 

He is the One who designs you in the wombs as He wills. There is no other god except Him, the Dignified, the Wise.

~ Quran 3:6 

 

He had full knowledge of you when He initiated you from the earth, and when you were embryos in your mothers' wombs. So do not claim purity for yourselves; He knows best who are the reverent ones.

~ Quran 53:32

​

He creates you in your mothers' wombs, creation after creation, in three realms of darkness.

~ Quran 39:6

​

Verse 39:6 above is also inclusive of all 3 stages of pregnancy!

 

We are considered human beings at all stages inside the womb, even when we were embryos! We do not suddenly become a human being at 120 days into the creation process. 

 

Also note God does NOT say “you were dust” or “you were clay,” as we were not considered a human being at that stage: 

 

From among His signs is that He created you from dust, then behold, you are human beings spreading out.

~ Quran 30:20

 

He is the One who created you from clay then decreed a term; a term that is known to Him, yet you go on doubting.

~ Quran 6:2

 

When your Lord said to the angels, "I will create a human being from clay.

~ Quran 38:71

 

Above all, It is God's Will that an embryo is planted in the womb of the mother. When this happens, it becomes a Decree from God that a new human being is destined to come to life:

 

We settle in the wombs what We will for a specified term, then We bring you out as infants after which you reach your maturity.

~ Quran 22:5

 

For any human being to terminate a pregnancy at any stage is to interfere with God's Will. 

 

God further advises we must NOT kill our children and that He has made life sacred:

 

Say, "Come let me tell you what your Lord has really prohibited for you: You shall not set up idols besides Him. You shall honor your parents. You shall not kill your children from fear of poverty- we provide for you and for them. You shall not commit gross sins, obvious or hidden. You shall not kill - GOD has made life sacred- except in the course of justice. These are His commandments to you, that you may understand."

~ Quran 6:151

​

Peace & God Bless

​