Yasir Qadhi – Islamic Perspective on Roe v. Wade

			Spil Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah, who either early he was so happy women are
humbled by this last week. I've been bombarded with so many questions, especially of our youth. I've
had a number of conversations with them about the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. And even today in my
office hours, I had dinner with some youth as well with so many questions. So I thought it would be
useful to share some Islamic perspectives on this regard, so that inshallah Tada we can benefit and
begin a broader discussion obviously, only so much can be done in a short hot era. For those of you
who are not aware, Roe vs. Wade is one of the most landmark and historic Supreme Court rulings in
		

			this country. It was passed in 1973. So basically 50 years ago, 49 years ago, and it is considered
to be the culmination of the second wave of feminism. So I need to now take a step back and explain
what is second wave feminism. So feminism is a movement as you're aware, these days, they consider
to have four stages. The first stage, which began at the turn of the century, was the fight for
women to have the political fight for women to have the right to vote, and the right to own
property, by and large that was finished and successful by World War One. So across all America,
European countries, Western countries, women won this right. World War One World War two kind of
		

			halted the feminist movement, post world war two second wave feminism began, second wave feminism
began challenging gender roles. And the notion that men and women should have the same opportunities
and the same playing field should be leveled. Up until World War One and two, women's roles was very
different career wise, education wise, look at any black and white movie, look at any historical
record in the past women were, let's say nurses and men were so there was this gender role that was
understood. World War One World War Two because of obviously the socio economic factors, men are
going towards, things are changing. So second wave feminism begins second wave feminism, women are
		

			arguing that, why should there be any difference, we can do the same thing as men. And so education
wise, a lot of people don't know this, that up until the late 60s, early 70s. Most universities were
gender segregated, Harvard and Yale only began admitting women 1970 Unbelievable. This is a
generation where many of you might have been studying in college. This is when these universities
began admitting 1970, not 18 1970. So second wave feminism, they wanted a level playing field men
and women should be the same in this regard. And intimacy wise as well. How can men get to have fun
and women cannot get to have the same type of you know, sexual intimacy. So you had a part of this
		

			was the revolution, the, you know, the hippie movement and the notion of sexual freedom, if you're
aware of, you know, that movement as well, in this timeframe. One of the rights they wanted
therefore, because the problem comes Okay, education wise, both can study in the same class, what
not, but when it comes to intimacy, when it comes to *, one of the genders gets burdened
the way the other but gender doesn't correct. One of the genders is left with something that is not
wanted, and the other gender gets to walk away scot free, right. So in this second wave feminism,
they began demanding the right for not just abortion, but also contraception. Again, many of us
		

			don't know this, up until this point in time, it was very difficult for a woman or a man to get
contraception. It was only in the 1960s that the government opened this door because they understood
or that whatever the reason was, they thought it would lead to immorality, which obviously it will
they thought, well, let's keep a control on this. So in the 60s and 70s, contraception became widely
available before this point in time, you needed a doctor's prescription, believe it or not, it was
very embarrassing, and you a woman had to go, there was very awkward. And women also began demanding
the right of, of what abortion why? Because freedom now, no baggage left, whatever happens, okay,
		

			now it's fair because before this point in time, if the man does something and leaves, who's gonna
get you know, quote, unquote, stuck with the child. So the rights of abortion became a hallmark of
the second wave feminism so much so it was considered and it is considered to be the victory of
second wave feminism. This is the culmination of women's rights of the second wave. And third wave
begins after Roe vs. Wade in the late 70s, early 80s. And that's a different wave where women are
demanding representation. Wherever there's men, there should also be women and women are demanding
equal pay. And again, I'm just speaking factually over here. As for my own views, and whatnot, I've
		

			given a whole about gender and Islam and we firmly believe that genders do have meaning and genders
do have a role. Let's give it an A hold the right and I'm being factual
		

			Hear. So third wave feminism, that fourth wave feminism were interested in second wave. So Roe
versus Wade was passed at the culmination of the second wave feminist movement, and it was viewed to
be the biggest victory for feminism. 49 years remains unchallenged. It was passed by a vote of seven
to two, what is Roe versus Wade? It is the court's ruling that the government's the constitution of
this country
		

			guarantees the right of woman to have an abortion. So the federal government along with the
guarantee of no police can, you know, take your property without a warrant? They cannot, sir, all of
this guarantee freedom of speech. So this, the Roe versus Wade said, of the guarantees of the
Constitution is that a woman has the right for abortion, what that court case did, because it's
Federal Supreme Court, all 50 states of the country have to allow it because that's assuming Supreme
Court and government funding is now applicable because this is Supreme Court. As you're all aware,
America is a conglomerate of states states and and federal, they always have an awkward relationship
		

			together. But when the federal government and the Federal Court, the Supreme Court passed it, all
states have to come on board. And so it becomes a constitutional right. As we're aware, many people
challenged this. And last week, by a vote of six to four, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus
Wade. Now what does it mean to overturn Roe vs. Wade? A lot of people don't understand this, right?
Their argument does not ban abortion. A lot of people missed the point. Their argument is actually
very simple and straightforward. It's very simple. Their argument is the founding fathers of this
country, and the Constitution they drafted has nothing to do with abortion. They didn't imagine the
		

			Founding Fathers about abortion. And it is a mistake to link abortion to the Constitution. This is
all they're saying. They are dealing King, the constitutional guarantee. And they are saying the
government based on the Constitution has no right to get involved. Hence, it goes back to what now
the states, a lot of people are misunderstanding that this ruling is banning abortion. No. It's
literally withdrawing federal support agreed. But it has no effect on any ban. But effectively,
obviously, immediately, as you know, 15 states whatever they went into ban locally in their states,
but the government, the federal government is not getting involved. They're saying that it was a
		

			mistake. By the way. Roe versus Wade Wade was passed, I think seven to two, the two dissenting, the
two dissenting Supreme Court justices. That's exactly what they argued. That's exactly what they
said. Whatever your position might be. It's not a part of the Constitution. You're reading it in
those two dissenting voices now becomes the majority, six out of four and they're saying the same
thing. Okay. Now, this is the history of Roe versus Wade. Now, a lot of Muslims immediately get
bogged down in the field of abortions. As for the sake of terminating pregnancies, I've given a
whole hour q&a with Dr. Hatem al Hajj, one of the senior scholars of North America and a medical
		

			doctor, one of the few people who's combined knowledge of medicine and a PhD in Islamic faith. I
have an interview with him here in epic masjid, during COVID. We had a zoom interview, you can
listen to that. And it's a very detailed lecture, the fifth of of terminating pregnancies, you can
listen to that. And in a nutshell, there's no question I have to summarize all of this. There's no
question the default and our Shetty is that Allah blesses you with the child, you take it as a gift.
The default is the preservation of life. And exceptions are exceptions. And our position is
definitely not as strict as some evangelicals and Catholics, but it is definitely not as open or
		

			liberal as the left is as well. We celebrate life and we affirm that Allah blesses. So we're
supposed to maintain that life. But there are exceptions. And definitely in the first, you know, a
month or so perhaps there's a few more lakhs that he's given, but never, never is aborting or
getting rid of a pregnancy allowed because of an inconvenience because of monetary factors, because
of the standard reasons that are given here. medical issues, no doubt, yes. And that can be even
maybe in the second trimester medical issues, issues of you know, problems, no doubt. So the Sharia
has a more nuanced view. You can listen to it in the lecture over there. And we need to be practical
		

			here. Now. Forget the Roe vs. Wade, the reality in this country. For the last 10 years, roughly
roughly 1 million fetuses were being aborted roughly sometimes more, sometimes less 1 million for
the last 10 years. Now whenever
		

			Roe versus Wade comes up and abortion, you always find generally in the left wing media, a very
emotional story of a lady struggling with a problem or a * or an * and wasn't able to be
aborted. Actually, if you look at the statistics, now the problem comes statistics, the government
did not and does not compile statistics on why abortion occurs. This is private entities, and some
states they monitor why. So I did a quick survey today and I'm giving a general numbers I'm not
claiming these are exact, but I did enough to know and show this, it's confident to say rough ideas.
Generally speaking, abortions that are due to * and * are less than 0.5%. Generally
		

			speaking, abortions due to * and * less than 0.5%. That's one out of 200 less than that.
Abortion due to medical issues very broadly defined very broadly. Because when you say medical, what
do you mean is the mother's life in danger? Is the child going to be born with abnormality, that's a
whole big spectrum, roughly five to 8%, depending on what survey looked at five to 8%, the default
of abortions, unmarried
		

			mothers who did not want to have a child for financial or it was inconvenient, or they didn't have a
partner with them in some surveys and statistics, up to 85% of abortions is because of this
statistic. So when you read one of these sad stories and whatnot, this is the point 5%. Let's not
forget the default, the default. It's inconvenient, of an action that should not have occurred, you
get what I'm talking about, right? It's the byproduct of something that should not have happened,
and you're like, Oh, now what do I do? And then they go for the abortion. So let's be very clear
that those people that are bringing up those exceptional scenarios, we don't base your Commissioner
		

			you on exceptional, we base it on the hokum am here. Now, another point that I also want to mention
when we talk about this issue of abortion, is that Subhanallah we thank Allah we thank Allah, that
our shittier has come with clear cut guidelines, because honestly, it is really a difficult
situation or scenario. When does life begin? Who has the right when it's early, middle late? All of
these questions have a philosophical, theological, ethical nature. How would you resolve them if you
didn't have revelation from Allah subhanho wa taala. As for us, I settled in Santo and Utica Sudha
did man think that he will be left without a god? As for us, Allah says about Okuma, Obinna
		

			acuminata, do not
		

			your father's and your sons, you don't know which one of them will benefit you more when it comes to
the inheritance and the fractions of inheritance. Allah says How would you decide the fractures of
inheritance between your father and mother between your son and daughter? How would you decide? How
would we decide anything without Sharia, our morality, our o'clock hour? Adab are halal and haram.
If we were to leave this to the chaos of people voting of the fads that take place amongst people
Subhan Allah one day something will be highlighted the next day it will be out on doesn't work that
way. The Halal is what Allah has made halal. The Haram is what Allah has made haram and the shitty
		

			outcomes and teaches us this reality. That's why Allah says that. You Halal the homopolar Ubatuba
you heard him talk about the Sharia outcomes to make the pure things halal, and the filthy things
haram How would you know pure and filthy unless the Sharia has come? So we need to use this
conversation about the gray area of ethics, morality, politics, law to teach our communities and the
broader society the blessings of having a divine revelation when Allah azza wa jal reveals in the
Quran when the prophets of salaam says 40 days here 120 days there hamdulillah things clear up, we
now have a clear cut understanding when is the roof blown in our foot? Haha, yes, there's a small
		

			spectrum of 50 law, which is always the case, but it is relatively small spectrum, our full QA
generally have a very clear idea about the fit of terminating pregnancies. We thank Allah for this
because when Allah speaks, the messenger speaks, somebody will alternate, so we don't have to worry
about those ethical and philosophical debates that takes place outside here. Now, another point I
also wanted to mention is that too many of us especially our youngsters are caught up in the
rhetoric of the left and the rhetoric of the progressives of the Democratic Party. And we have to
keep this in check. We are neither Democrats nor Republicans, we are neither left nor right. Our
		

			language is not the language of the current politics. It is the language of the Sharia, the language
of the Quran and Sunnah. We don't base things based upon the fads of today. No, we are above this.
We need to teach our children this and honestly, not just our children and our community. We need to
preach to those around us.
		

			The reality of why this is taking place you see, we jump to the problem to the cure, and we forget
the solution. This whole debate that is taking the country by rage about the rights of abortion,
abortion. Well, let's take a step back. What's happening before the abortion, such that you're
thinking about an abortion, this spread of immorality and the normalization of far hisher. And the
prevalence of the hookup culture, it is something that is should astonish the average mind 100 years
ago, in this country, less than one out of 10 men and women engaged in premarital *, the
norm was, you wait, you live a dignified life and then you get married? This is just 100 years ago.
		

			Now. I just looked up the surveys. Almost 97% of men and women some said 9899 engaged in premarital
in the broader society. There is no concept of it being immoral. So you guys, the broader society is
jumping to the problem, and you're forgetting the cure. You're forgetting why this problem is
happening. This problem is happening because you have lost all morality. You don't have a sense of
what is decent and dignified and you have opened the door for fascia. So we as Muslims need to be
very clear about this. It is actually a mistake to jump into the abortion debates without taking the
step back and talking about a clock and morality. Hi yah, our profit system said Every religion has
		

			one defining characteristic and the defining characteristic of our deen is modesty high up higher
modesty. So when you open the door of fascia, and this leads us to even the ultimate source of
opening the door for Pfizer, because far harsher is linked with not believing in a higher power, not
believing in a day of judgment. If you believe in a higher power, this country was Christian 100
years ago, very Christian. That's why far Asia was very rare, less than one out of 10 religious
levels have gone down belief in God is now considered to be antiquated. They don't believe in a
hereafter what's going to happen when you don't have Iman in a higher power, society is going to go
		

			as it has become so we as Muslims, we have an important role to play that role is to be beacons of
preaching morality and the truth we have to tell society around us. We are Allah has delegates to be
honest, where Allah is quantum HydroMet and the nurse Allah sent us that maroon had been my roofie
what and how Nandan Wonka. Allah has chosen us to preach the truth and forbid against the evil. We
cannot force anybody that's their business, but we have to preach the truth. We have to speak the
truth. We have to live the truth and eventually the people around us as they see all of society
become corrupt, and the evil becomes even more evil. And the fascia becomes even more foolish as it
		

			is happening now. When we stand up and preach the truth insha Allah Who to other people with pure
hearts, pure filtros will click they will understand. Yes, these people have a religion from Allah
subhanho wa taala. So, conclusion here, it is a mistake to jump into the abortion debate
immediately. It's a mistake, because the abortion debate is predicated from a culture of fireshot
from a culture of promiscuity from a culture of complete allowance of every haram. We have to go
behind this and say hold on a sec, this should not be normal. And it is not normal because we
believe in Allah subhanho wa taala. So we link it even beyond this even to the basics of Eman and
		

			Allah azza wa jal, and we call people worse than the sin of abortion is the sin of shitcan. Cofer
worse than this is the sin of shooter can go for so we have to preach people about believing in
Allah azza wa jal and morality and to hate and one final point, my conversations this last week, and
they should not be any surprise to you was very interesting to say the least. I think there is a
clear divide between most of our youth and most of our elders. In this issue, which is symptomatic
of their views on religion and deen and liberalism and feminism. There is a clear divide between
college and teenagers versus those that are in their 40s and 50s or maybe even late 30s. So I
		

			strongly encourage all of you parents to sit down with your teenage children, not even teenagers,
maybe even middle school are very well aware of what's going on and open up this conversation. What
do you think about this overturning of Roe versus Wade and began talking about o'clock morality
hayah belief in Allah subhana wa Tada explained to them it's a mistake to jump all the way there
without working your way up with iman and Allah with believing in what has had on haram.
		

			With the reality of what happens when in fact he has opened up, it is not healthy when our community
is so divided where the youngsters are, pretty much many of them if you would see what's happening
are aligned in one in one area, and the elders are very much disconnected from what's going on and
not even communicating with them. So I strongly urge every parent to sit down with your children to
have frank conversations and to bring them back to the basics. What is the basics? We believe in
Allah, Allah sent down the Quran with our prophets of salaam to teach us how to live our lives,
ethically and morally and when we follow that Sharia when we follow the Quran and Sunnah our lives
		

			and societies around us will be pure and healthy. May Allah subhana wa Tada guide all of us to that
which he loves. May Allah azza wa jal protect our children and grandchildren may Allah subhana wa
Taala allow our sons and daughters to be beacons of morality and beacons of love which is akmola who
played on Santa Monica Monica mucha Lucha Libre catch
		

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