Tue 14 رمضان 1447 (03 Mar 2026)
[Ruling on Removing the Fetus When the Mother’s Death Is Feared]
Mufti:
Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady
Fatwa number: 18442
Number of views: 5
[Ruling on Removing the Fetus When the Mother’s Death Is Feared]
Fatwa number: 18442
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Question: What is your view regarding a woman six months pregnant who fell ill and was taken to the hospital? The doctors said: “If you want the mother to live, the pregnancy must be removed.” They removed it while the fetus was alive; it kept crying until it died. The husband consented to its removal. What is required in this case? Peace.
The answer—and Allah is the One who grants success: If the matter is as described, then nothing is required. The evidence for this is:
1. In removing the child lies the mother’s safety, while leaving it in her womb leads to her destruction and the destruction of what is in her womb.
2. By analogy with amputating a limb afflicted with cancer: the child in her womb is like a limb of her.
And the scholars of the madhhab have said: There is no expiation due from one who causes the death of the fetus in its mother’s womb—even if it emerges alive and then dies—there is no expiation in that. They also said: If the husband permits his wife to abort a living pregnancy, its full blood-money is not required of her.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1
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