Islamic Center of Southern California

The Arguments of Islamic Law Rulings on Recent Medical Issues

Topic Twenty Five

Minimum and Maximum Duration of Pregnancy

Definition

Pregnancy results from the union of a mature sperm with a mature ovum produced by one of the ovaries during ovulation (around the midpoint of the menstrual cycle). When the matured ovum escapes from its follicle, or pocket, it is picked up in the far end of one of the Fallopian tubes, and the cilia at the upper lining of the tube carry it down the tube, where it is ready for fertilization within the next twenty-four hours. Soon after it is fertilized, an ovum divides into smaller cells, and within three to four days the blastocyst is formed. The embryo travels down the tubes and implants itself in the uterus lining. The inner layer of the uterus grows, nourishes the embryo and forms the placenta, causing monthly menstruation to stop. Until now, scientists have not specifically determined the key factor that begins labor. It is attributed to the fetus, to the endocrine glands, or to the uterus muscle itself, which reaches its maximum size.

The Legal Position Chosen by the IOMS and Its Argument

A recommendations of the third seminar, held in 1987, is the followsing:

The Minimum Duration of Pregnancy

The uterus may discharge the embryo or fetus it has at any point of the pregnancy, but unless the fetus has matured sufficiently to survive, this discharge is called abortion. If the fetus is developed adequately to survive, the discharge is called childbirth. The baby is premature if the pregnancy period is less than thirty-seven weeks.

The dividing line between abortion and birth used to be the end of the twenty-eighth week. Progress in medicine, however, has improved the chance of survival for a fetus discharged even before the end of that period, reducing the dividing line to only twenty-four weeks, which coincides with the Islamic Law ruling which considers the minimum period between conception and delivery to be six months.

The Maximum Duration of Pregnancy

Physicians say that the growth of an embryo progresses from fertilization till delivery, it is nourished by the placenta. Originally, the duration of pregnancy is about 280 days, beginning with the first day of ordinary menses prior to conception.

The delay of delivery beyond that period means the placenta still has sufficient nourishment for the fetus for two additional weeks. After that, the fetus begins to starve, which increases fetus mortality rate in the forty-third and forty-fourth weeks. It is rare for a fetus to survive if it remains in the uterus for forty five weeks.

To allow for rare and abnormal cases, this period is extended to 330 days. No case is known where the placenta could supply a fetus with the means to survive that long. Islamic Law takes further precaution and, on the evidence of some jurisprudence (fiqh) viewpoints along with the scientific evidence, maximum pregnancy is ruled to be one year. Islamic Center of Southern California