JOIN USIn a “fatwa” (religious decree), the Lucknow-based “Darul Uloom Firangimahal” has said that it is “un-islamic” to abort the foetus after determining its sex.
“Islam does not permit abortion,” said Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali, chief of the institution and a senior member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, an apex organisation of the Muslim community in the country.
The “fatwa” was issued on Tuesday in response to a query by one Dr Huma Khwaja, who wanted to know what the “shariat” (Islamic law) stand is on termination of pregnancy after determining the sex of the foetus.
“Just as a murder is a sin, to cut off a part of the body (foetus) is also a sin in the eyes of Islam,” Maulana Firangimahali said in the “fatwa.”
He said that it was the duty of the human beings to consider the “girls” (female feotuses) as gifts of the god. “Society will progress only if the girls survive,” the well-known sunni cleric said in his “fatwa.”
The Maulana has also called for stern punishment to those indulging in female foeticide. The “fatwa” assumes significance in view of the recent census report, which pointed out that 63 districts in Uttar Pradesh had disproportionate male-female ratio. The census also reported that the number of girls in 0-6 age group in the state had dropped by 10 lakh even though the population of the state went up by three crores.