Abortion is forbidden as a crime under Islamic law, except where there is medical proof that the mother's life is under threat by continuing with the pregnancy, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution heard yesterday. Islamic representatives told the committee that the foetus was viewed as "a human being in a formative stage and therefore has the right to protection by law".
Rape and the threat of suicide would not lead to the granting of an abortion, and the representatives acting for the Islamic community believed the abortion provision should be included in the Constitution.
At the public hearings on the abortion Green Paper, Mr Arif Fitzsimon, a spokesman for the Islamic Cultural Centre in Ireland, said "all life is sacred according to Islam, with two exceptions - a punishment in accordance to Islamic law or in the case of a just war".
Representing up to 17,000 Muslims in Ireland, the first Muslim delegation to address an Oireachtas committee said abortion was allowed only if the continuation of the pregnancy would result in the death of the mother. It is a consensus of Muslim opinion, of all traditions, that the embryo should be safeguarded and should not be affected unless there was harm threatening the mother's life.
The threat of suicide by the mother would not lead to the granting of an abortion because Islam strictly forbids suicide, according to Sheikh Heussain Halawa, Imam of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Ireland. Sheikh Halawa, from Egypt, also told Senator John Dardis, through a translator, that the percentage of abortion was very low among Muslims and this was "because Islam considers the doctor who helps to carry out abortion as a criminal".
He was asked by Ms Liz McManus of Labour about abortion in rare conditions where a baby was born without a brain and with only 24 hours to live. "If the doctors say that he will live only 24 hours he still has the right to these 24 hours," he replied.
Ms McManus noted that the Muslims did not accept rape as grounds for abortion but asked if that child would be treated equally to all other children.
"The child is very much an innocent and is supposed to be treated equally and on the same footing as other children, because he has not committed any sin," the Imam replied.
Mr Jim O'Keeffe of Fine Gael said the committee was principally examining the provisions of the Constitution and asked whether there should be a provision dealing with abortion or whether it should be dealt with under ordinary legislation. Sheikh Halawa said the Muslims who acted for the Islamic community believed the provision should be in the Constitution. He added that Islam "prohibits abortion, even for animals".
The committee chairman, Mr Brian Lenihan of Fianna Fail, thanked the group for its presence and pointed out that under the Constitution, the State "honours and respects religion and that particular pledge is not restricted to the Christian religions. It extends to other faiths as well".
