New Delhi: From now on, ask a `holy
Muslim doctor` before you go for an abortion, the Darul Uloom-
Deoband has ruled in its latest fatwa.
The highest Muslim school has ruled, "If a holy Muslim
doctor advises that a woman is unable to bear birth pangs,
then a less than three months old pregnancy can be terminated
but if it is more than three months old, the abortion is
absolutely unlawful".
The Deoband has issued this fatwa in response to the
question of a Muslim couple who sought its permission to abort
their third child, after a doctor had advised them to wait for
at least thirty months before the birth of another child.
However, the medical fraternity does not endorse this
fatwa.
"Terminating a more than three months old pregnancy
can certainly be dangerous but why should one seek a hakeem`s
advice if the pregnancy is less than three months old?", asks
Dr Fauzia Khanam, a gynaecologist, adding, that it is always
better to refer to a professional doctor.
Believing that only a professionally qualified doctor
is best suited to deal with the complications of pregnancy,
Dr Anjum Ansari, another gynaecologist, says, "a lot of people
who prefer to approach a hakeem only harm themselves".
In an earlier fatwa, the Deoband had said that it is
lawful to use contraceptive methods only on the permission of
a hakeem.
PTI
