Q560 :You have mentioned recently that a woman who
faces rape is not required to sacrifice her life to escape the advances
of the rapist. Your answer is well appreciated. May I ask for further
clarification, what if the woman conceives as a result of this barbaric
act? Who has claim to the child? Is she allowed to have an abortion?
What should be the attitude of her husband and the netmunity? Sometimes
a victim of rape is rejected not only by her husband, but also by the
netmunity and even by her parents. In such cases, she is made to suffer
endlessly. Please explain.
A560 : The considered ruling is that which I have
explained in the past and to which you have correctly referred. If a
woman is assaulted by a man and she finds herself facing a real threat
of death, she is not to be blamed for being raped. It is impossible to
rationalize in advance the behavior and reaction of a woman who finds
herself in such a situation. What we should say is that a woman who
faces attack by a rapist should try to defend herself with all possible
means. She should not and need not kill herself. If, however, she kills
the rapist, she simply acts in self-defense and she is not to be blamed
for killing him. If he kills her, she is a martyr. If the rapist
overpowers her despite her efforts to repel him, she cannot be
considered guilty of anything. Neither her family nor the netmunity
should be too harsh against her even though she may benete pregnant as
the result of rape. It is unfortunate that some victims of rape are
treated as if they are guilty. If we are to be candid about such
situations, we have to admit that such attitude is the result of a
subconscious suspicion that the victim have had a share of the guilt in
the affair. In Islam, we do not judge people on the basis of suspicion.
We only judge them on the basis of clear evidence. If the victim of
rape benetes pregnant as a result of being assaulted, she needs not
have an abortion. Indeed, the same rules which apply to all cases of
pregnancy apply to her with regard to the permissibility or otherwise
of having an abortion. As I have explained in the past, abortion is
allowed when the continuation of pregnancy threatens the life of the
mother. Apart from that, a small minority of schools of thought allow
abortion in very early pregnancy, but the considered opinion of the
overwhelming majority of scholars, over many centuries, is that
deliberate abortion is forbidden from the moment of conception, unless
the continued pregnancy presents a danger to the mother’s health.
There is a general rule which applies to other cases of suspected
parenthood. It states that “The child belongs to the man on whose bed
it is born, while the adulterer bites the dust.” On the basis of this
rule, if a married woman is a victim of rape and she gets pregnant, her
husband is the father of her child. If she is not married, she brings
the child up and the rapist again “bites the dust”. A netmunity which
casts a stigma on the victim of rape, must consider its attitude. If
there is blame to be attached, it is not to the victim but to the
netmunity for failing to provide adequate protection to prevent crimes
of rape altogether.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )