Why
Muslim sisters and brothers should join the pro-life
campaign
There are many reasons why Muslims should campaign
against attacks on the sanctity of life including
abortion, destructive embryo experimentation,
euthanasia and assisted suicide. Here are some
of the most important arguments:
ISLAMIC/RELIGIOUS:
*GOD
is the only Owner of life. Life is sacred in Islam
and no one should take steps intentionally to end
an innocent human life.
*Al
Qur'an and the sayings (ahadith/sunnah) teach that
it is prohibited to intentionally end the life of
any unborn child (abortion) or to kill oneself or
assist someone to end their life.
*There
is not one single statement in the Qur'an or sayings
which allows abortion, euthanasia, suicide or assisted
suicide at any time or in any circumstances.
*Punishments
are prescribed for anyone intentionally ending or
helping to end an innocent human life.
*We
are asked in the Qur'an to defend the life of the
weak, vulnerable and the defenceless.
*There
are clearly prescribed rights of the unborn baby
in Islam, for example, the right of life.
*The
right of life is similarly granted to a baby or
adult who is disabled.
*Muslims
are requested to work with non-Muslims to protect
and save lives.
*To
kill an innocent human life is like killing the
whole of mankind and to save a human life is like
the saving of all mankind (according to the Qur'an),
and is highly rewarded by GOD.
*To
allow abortion and euthanasia is lethal to our souls.
*Any
child is a great gift from the Creator.
*On
the Day of Judgement, we all will be asked: what
have we done in order to stop the intentional killing
of innocent human lives, as in abortion and euthanasia?
*Already,
requests for abortion from among our own Muslim
women are rising!
*It
is unjust, irresponsible and against the good of
society to end an innocent human life, as in abortion
or euthanasia.
*A
caring supportive family and society should protect
all human life.
*The
procedure of abortion is barbaric and cruel - the
baby is usually given no painkillers
*Every
day in Britain as many as 600 unborn babies, innocent
and defenceless, are killed by abortion!
*The
correct response to a person who is elderly, infirm,
chronically ill or disabled is to care for them,
not to end their life.
*An
unborn child or someone who is chronically ill,
disabled or old is no less human than any other
person and should be treated with the care and respect
owing to all human beings.
*The
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has upheld
the life of the child, before and after birth.
Many
women have physical and/or psychological problems
at some time after their abortion.
*Post
Abortion Trauma, formally defined as a category
of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which may either
be acute or delayed. There are a wide range of symptoms,
including: a sense of emptiness and loss; feelings
of anger, guilt and remorse; depression; relationship
difficulties; sleep disturbances - recurrent dreams;
drug/alcohol abuse, sexual dysfunction or promiscuity.
*Physical
problems can include: heavy bleeding (haemorrhage),
serious infection (peritonitis), blood clots (thrombosis
and pulmonary embolism), damage to the cervix, difficult
future labour, premature deliveries, repeated miscarriages,
and infertility. Many studies have identified a
link between abortion and an increased risk of breast
cancer.
*Abortion
is an unnecessary surgical or medical procedure
on a healthy woman and as such is a drain on limited
medical resources, especially in the third world.
*The
practice of euthanasia affects a whole society -
not just the individuals killed.
*If
doctors are given the power to end patients' lives,
the bond of trust between doctors and patients will
be damaged.
*Vulnerable
people, including those with a disability or a chronic
illness or the elderly, may be deterred from seeking
medical help out of fear of being killed.
*There
is substantial evidence that so-called "passive"
euthanasia is now practiced by some doctors in Britain.
*Those
whose life is judged as not worth living may be
influenced to agree to an assisted suicide if the
present law in the UK is changed. There have been
attempts to legalise assisted suicide, the latest,
unsuccessful, attempt being Lord Joffe's Assisted
Dying for the Terminally ill Bill.
*Most
abortions (about 90%) carried out in the UK are
done for social rather than medical reasons.
*We
in the UK, like most of Europe, face a demographic
problem: over the past few decades fewer and fewer
children are born, who are needed to contribute
to the future survival and welfare of society and
to look after the old and needy.
*We
live in a country where abortion is seen as the
only answer to unexpected pregnancy, and young people
are not taught the value of abstinence and chastity.
*Our
young people live in a society where promiscuity
is rife and where cases of sexually transmitted
diseases increase year on year.
*Many
thousands of women suffer from serious psychological
problems after their abortion but there is little
recognition of the need to avoid abortion for this
reason.
*Vulnerable
people who are old, sick or disabled are sometimes
neglected when they are in hospital and are at risk
from existing and proposed laws which will further
erode their right to life
*The
culture of death is spreading in the UK. The media
portray people who oppose abortion, sex before and
outside marriage, assisted suicide and euthanasia
as a religious (mainly Catholic) minority who wish
to impose their "narrow-minded" morality
on the rest of the country.
Islam
does not permit abortion, immoral sex education,
destructive embryo experimentation, euthanasia
or assisted suicide. We cannot say that such evil
does not affect us because we are Muslims, it
does. It affects our children at school and in
colleges; it affects us all if we need hospital
treatment.
Please
join with me in the Society for the Protection of
Unborn Children (SPUC), which campaigns to protect
all lives from conception until natural death. SPUC
Muslims is a division of the Society reaching out
to the Muslim community - please help us peacefully
oppose the culture of death in this country.
Dr
A. Majid Katme (MBBCh, DPM)
Muslim Coordinator to SPUC
Pro-life, Pro-family Muslim Campaigner (UK/UN)
Spokesman: Islamic Medical Association/UK
TV and radio broadcaster
T:
0044 7944 240 622 E-mail address: akatme@hotmail.com
Dr.
A. Majid Katme is available to give talks on Islam
and abortion, Islam and euthanasia, Islam and human
cloning and other issues affecting the sanctity
of human life.