Sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia — Islam

What the specification asks for

Paper 1, Section 2, 2.3 (Islam). Assessed on AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and AO2 (analysis and evaluation), weighted equally. Incandio is aligned to this specification. It is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's indicative content — the point numbers are given so you can check every unit against your own copy.

1 · Understand it

A doctor gives a dying patient enough morphine to control the pain, knowing it may shorten her life by hours. The same doctor refuses to give her an injection that would end it this afternoon. Classical Islamic law drew that line centuries before modern medicine did, and it drew it in the same place and for a reason worth understanding.

What it means

The governing claim is about ownership rather than value. Life is given by Allah and belongs to Allah, so a person deciding when it ends is acting on something that is not theirs. The Qur'an treats taking one life without right as though it were the killing of all humanity.

On euthanasia the position is clear: the appointed time of death is part of Allah's decree, so deliberately ending a life to end suffering is the taking of a life rather than a form of care. But two distinctions do real work. Pain relief is permitted even where it may shorten life, because the intention is relief rather than death; and withdrawing futile treatment is widely accepted as accepting the decree rather than as euthanasia.

On abortion the tradition is not a flat prohibition either. Where continuing a pregnancy would kill the mother, saving her life is permitted and generally held to be required — which follows from the principle that saving a life overrides other duties, and from darura, necessity, by which an otherwise forbidden act may become permitted.

Ensoulment is the threshold the classical rulings are built around: the point at which the ruh is held to be breathed into the foetus, commonly located at 120 days, with a minority reading at 40.

Muslims genuinely differ outside the mother's-life case. Several Sunni schools permit abortion before 120 days for serious reasons such as severe foetal abnormality or rape, and forbid it after ensoulment except to save the mother; Shi'a jurisprudence is generally more restrictive, with many authorities limiting permission largely to a threat to the mother's life. Euthanasia is rejected across the traditions.

Why believers hold it

The ownership claim is what makes the Islamic objection to euthanasia survive the case a consent-based ethics finds easiest. If life is merely valuable, then a competent adult who no longer values their own has an argument. If it is not theirs to dispose of, the argument does not start — which is why naming the hinge as ownership rather than value is what lifts an answer here.

Intention is the second principle and it does genuine legal work, which is why the same physical act can be permitted or forbidden depending on what is meant by it. That is not a loophole; it is the same distinction secular palliative medicine draws between relieving pain and causing death, arrived at from a different premise.

The 120-day rule is usually reported as a fact about when a soul arrives, and the more interesting point is what it does to the argument. Classical Islamic law already accepted that a human organism can exist without yet carrying full protection — a distinction most people assume only modern secular bioethics makes. That is why the Muslim debate about abortion is a debate about where a threshold falls rather than about whether thresholds exist.

Two objections are serious. Refusing euthanasia prolongs suffering that no longer serves anybody, and a competent adult should decide about their own death — which is the strongest argument for a plural society, since an ownership claim drawn from one revelation cannot bind those who do not accept it. Against that, permitting it puts pressure on the vulnerable, and the Islamic position refuses both euthanasia and needless suffering rather than accepting one to avoid the other.

Where it comes from

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 5:32 (translated)

  Whoever saves one life, it is as if he had saved all mankind.

  The sanctity of a single human life, made equivalent to the whole of humanity. The foundation of Muslim teaching on the value of life.

  What it is doing here: Supplies the weight the tradition puts on a single life, and is the verse that makes the mother's-life exception an application of the principle rather than a departure from it.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 3:185 (with 75:1–4) (translated)

  Every soul shall taste death ... and only then will you be paid your full recompense.

  Death is certain and judgement follows it. Akhirah — the afterlife — with Barzakh, the Day of Judgement, and Jannah or Jahannam.

  What it is doing here: Establishes that the time of death is appointed, which is the ground on which the objection to euthanasia rests rather than a general dislike of dying badly.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 17:23–24 (translated)

  Be good to your parents ... and lower your wing in humility towards them.

  Duty to parents is placed immediately after duty to God, and the passage specifically covers their old age.

  What it is doing here: Shows the duty of care owed to the ageing and dependent, which is what makes palliative provision an obligation rather than a kindness.

Where it bites

It shapes Muslim medical practice directly: hospices and palliative care are strongly supported, pain relief is given even where it may shorten life, and Muslim doctors distinguish withdrawing futile treatment from ending a life.

It also shapes what a Muslim family is likely to ask for at a bedside — treatment continued while it can achieve something, treatment stopped when it cannot, and the intention behind each decision made explicit, because intention is what the ruling turns on.

What people get wrong

People think: Islam forbids abortion absolutely.

Actually: The mother's life is a recognised exception and is generally held to make abortion required rather than merely allowed, and the schools differ before 120 days. Writing that Islam calls abortion murder, with no mention of ensoulment, the schools or the mother's life, misdescribes a reasoned position as a flat rule.

People think: Contraception and abortion raise the same question for religious believers.

Actually: Contraception prevents conception; abortion ends a pregnancy that has begun. Traditions treating them alike are the exception rather than the rule, and Islam is not one of them — contraception is widely permitted and abortion is sharply restricted. The examiners name the merging.

People think: Muslims must keep a dying patient on treatment and refuse pain relief.

Actually: Neither is Islamic teaching. Withdrawing futile treatment is widely accepted as accepting Allah's decree, and pain relief is permitted even where it may shorten life because the intention is relief. Confusing withdrawal with euthanasia loses the distinction the whole position rests on.

What the examiner expects you to understand

• Never write that Islam forbids abortion absolutely; give the mother's-life exception, which shows the position is reasoned rather than flat.
• Name ensoulment and the 120 days, because that is where the disagreement between the schools actually sits.
• Keep withdrawing futile treatment apart from euthanasia; conflating them removes the distinction the tradition depends on.
• Do not merge contraception and abortion — Islam treats them very differently and the examiners record the error.
• For the twelve-mark question, press the word 'always' against the mother's-life exception rather than avoiding it.

2 · Grade 9 Notes

Core belief / issue

Islam holds that life is given by Allah, belongs to Allah, and may not be taken by the person living it or by anyone else without right. That one principle produces the Islamic position on both abortion and euthanasia — and it is not a flat prohibition in either case, because Islamic law also holds that saving a life overrides other duties, which is what makes the mother's life the decisive exception.

Key terminology

Incandio's mark schemes credit the religion's own vocabulary; spelling variants are accepted, a vague paraphrase is not.

Sanctity of life

The belief that life is sacred because Allah gives it and it belongs to him.

Ensoulment

The point at which the ruh is held to be breathed into the foetus; commonly located at 120 days, with a minority view at 40.

Euthanasia

Deliberately ending a life to end suffering; in Islamic law this is the taking of a life, not a form of care.

Qadr (also al-Qadr, qadar)

Allah's decree; the appointed time of death is part of it.

Darura (also darurah)

Necessity — a recognised legal principle by which an otherwise forbidden act may become permitted.

What Islam teaches

• shared — Human life is sacred because Allah gives it; taking one life without right is treated in the Qur'an as though it were the killing of all humanity.
• shared — The time of death belongs to Allah, so deliberately ending a life to end suffering is forbidden.
• shared — Where continuing a pregnancy would kill the mother, saving her life is permitted and is generally held to be required.
• divided — Scholars differ on abortion outside that case: some permit it before 120 days for grave reasons, others restrict it far more narrowly.
  • Sunni — Several Sunni schools permit abortion before 120 days for serious reasons such as severe foetal abnormality or rape, and forbid it after ensoulment except to save the mother.
  • Shi'a — Shi'a jurisprudence is generally more restrictive, with many authorities limiting permission largely to a threat to the mother's life.

Why it teaches this

The reasoning is ownership rather than value. Islam does not merely say life is precious and should be protected — plenty of non-religious ethics says that. It says life is Allah's, so a person deciding when it ends is acting on something that is not theirs. That is why the Islamic objection to euthanasia survives the case of the willing patient, which is exactly the case a purely consent-based ethics finds easiest.

Sources of authority

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 5:32 (translated)

  Whoever saves one life, it is as if he had saved all mankind.

  The sanctity of a single human life, made equivalent to the whole of humanity. The foundation of Muslim teaching on the value of life.

  How to use it: Because one life stands for all, the argument does not weaken as the number of people shrinks — which is why it applies to abortion and euthanasia as strongly as to war.

  What it does not settle: It does not settle when life begins. Muslim scholars differ on abortion, particularly before 120 days, and citing this verse as settling it is inaccurate.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 3:185 (with 75:1–4) (translated)

  Every soul shall taste death ... and only then will you be paid your full recompense.

  Death is certain and judgement follows it. Akhirah — the afterlife — with Barzakh, the Day of Judgement, and Jannah or Jahannam.

  How to use it: Because reward and punishment come after death, this life is a test rather than an end in itself — which is why Muslim answers about suffering and about the purpose of life run through akhirah.

  What it does not settle: Resurrection in Islam is BODILY. Writing about reincarnation here is the confusion the 2021 report records.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 17:23–24 (translated)

  Be good to your parents ... and lower your wing in humility towards them.

  Duty to parents is placed immediately after duty to God, and the passage specifically covers their old age.

  How to use it: Because the duty is placed next to worship, care for elderly parents is an act of religion and not merely of affection — which is a much stronger answer on family than 'Muslims value family'.

  What it does not settle: It does not address the modern institutional questions about care directly.

Different interpretations

• Ensoulment at 120 days, from the Hadith describing the stages of formation — the majority position, and the one that structures classical Sunni rulings on abortion.
• Ensoulment at 40 days, a minority reading of the same material, which narrows the window considerably.
• Withdrawal of futile treatment read as accepting Allah's decree rather than as euthanasia — widely accepted, and the distinction most learners miss.

Differences within Islam

The disagreement is real and specific — it is about abortion before ensoulment, not about whether life is sacred. Euthanasia is rejected across the traditions.

• Sunni — Agreement on the sanctity principle and on the mother's life; real divergence between the schools on abortion before 120 days.
• Shi'a — Generally more restrictive on abortion; the same absolute rejection of euthanasia.
• Sufi — Follows the legal rulings of the school its adherents belong to; the distinctive emphasis is pastoral rather than legal.

Application to the issue

It shapes Muslim medical practice: hospices and palliative care are strongly supported, pain relief is permitted even where it may shorten life because the intention is relief rather than death, and Muslim doctors distinguish withdrawing futile treatment from ending a life. Intention does real legal work here, which is why the same physical act can be permitted or forbidden depending on what is meant by it.

Arguments supporting

• If life is not ours, ending it is not our decision to make. — The Qur'an treats a life taken without right as the taking of all humanity. (islam)
  Answered by: It settles the question only for someone who accepts the ownership premise; for anyone else it restates rather than argues.
• Permitting euthanasia would put pressure on the vulnerable. — Once dying becomes a choice, the ill can come to feel they should justify not making it. (shared)
  Answered by: This is a practical argument about safeguards rather than about principle, and it can be met with safeguards.

Arguments challenging

• Refusing euthanasia prolongs suffering that has no purpose. — Some pain cannot be controlled, and the person bearing it wants it to stop. (non-religious)
  Answered by: Islam permits full pain relief and the withdrawal of futile treatment, so the gap between the positions is narrower than the debate suggests.
• A competent adult should decide about their own death. — Autonomy is the principle used everywhere else in medicine. (non-religious)
  Answered by: Islam denies the premise: a Muslim does not own their life, so autonomy is not the governing consideration.

Secular / non-religious perspective

Humanists generally support assisted dying for competent adults with safeguards, arguing that compassion and autonomy point the same way and that nothing is served by suffering. On abortion they usually reason from the woman's rights and the foetus's developing capacity to feel rather than from ensoulment. Both positions hold that life is valuable; they deny that it is anyone's property.

Examinable throughout Paper 1. Nothing here earns a mark on Paper 2.

Evaluation

The hinge: Whether life is owned or merely valued. Nearly every disagreement in this unit is a consequence of that one difference, and naming it is what lifts an answer.

Defensible conclusions

• The Islamic position is more consistent than its critics allow: it refuses both euthanasia and needless suffering, and the distinction it draws — intention — is one secular medicine also uses.
• Autonomy is the stronger principle for a society containing people of many faiths and none, since a religious ownership claim cannot bind those who do not share it.
• The disagreement inside Islam about abortion shows the tradition already reasoning about competing goods, so the real question is where the line falls rather than whether there is one.

Not defensible

• Saying Islam forbids abortion absolutely; the mother's life is a recognised exception and the schools differ before 120 days.
• Saying Muslims must refuse pain relief or keep a dying patient on futile treatment; neither is Islamic teaching.

Exam use

• Identify · 3 marks — Three Muslim beliefs about the sanctity of life, or three reasons Muslims oppose euthanasia. Short phrases only.
• Outline · 4 marks — Two attitudes developed, one of which should be the mother's-life exception, because it shows the position is reasoned rather than flat.
• Explain · 6 marks — Explain differing Muslim attitudes to abortion: the shared sanctity principle, ensoulment at 120 days, the mother's life, and the divergence between schools.
• Evaluate · 12 marks — 'Life is sacred and must always be protected.' The strongest answers press the word 'always' against the mother's-life exception rather than ignoring it.

Common mistakes

• Treating contraception and abortion as the same question; Islam permits contraception widely and restricts abortion sharply.
• Writing 'Islam says abortion is murder' with no mention of ensoulment, the schools or the mother's life.
• Confusing withdrawing futile treatment with euthanasia, which loses the distinction the whole Islamic position rests on.

“Contraception and abortion raise the same question for religious believers.” — Contraception prevents conception; abortion ends a pregnancy that has begun. Traditions that treat them alike are the exception, not the rule.

Write instead: Most religious traditions treat them separately. Catholic teaching rejects both, for different reasons. Many Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh positions accept contraception while restricting abortion. Some methods are contested precisely because a tradition disputes whether they prevent or end — and noticing that is a genuinely sophisticated point. (Named in the 2023 examiner report for Paper 1.)

Grade 9 insight

The 120-day rule is usually reported as a fact about when the soul arrives. The Level 4 point is what it does to the argument: classical Islamic law already accepted that a human organism can exist without yet carrying full protection — a distinction most people assume only secular bioethics makes. That is why the Muslim debate about abortion is a debate about where a threshold falls rather than about whether thresholds exist.

Carry on through Islam

• Previous unit: 2.2 · The meaning and purpose of life
• Next unit: 2.4 · Human relationships
• Sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia in the other religions: Buddhism · Christianity · Hinduism · Judaism · Sikhism
• Side by side: Sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia across the six religions — Is human life sacred, and may it ever be deliberately ended?
• All of Islam · Incandio Religious Studies · The 4RS1 specification