Abortion of a foetus resulting from a zina relationship
Question

                Is it permissible for a woman who has committed immoral actions to abort the foetus?
Praise be to Allah.The efforts and ijtihaad of 
          the fuqaha’ have focused on abortion in general terms, and the rulings 
          on that and the consequences that may follow. They have not gone into 
          details concerning cases where the pregnancy results from immorality. 
          This may be because they consider that to come under the same ruling 
          as abortion of a pregnancy resulting from a proper marriage. If abortion 
          of a pregnancy resulting from a proper marriage is haraam under normal 
          circumstances, then it is even more so in cases where the pregnancy 
          results from immorality, because permitting abortion of pregnancy which 
          results from immorality would encourage evil actions and the spread 
          of immorality. One of the basic principles of Islam is that it forbids 
          immorality and all the ways that lead to it, e.g., it forbids tabarruj 
          (wanton display of one’s charms) and free mixing (of men and women).
In addition, an innocent foetus 
          which has committed no sin should not be sacrificed because of a sin 
          committed by someone else. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 
          
“No one laden with burdens 
          can bear another’s burden”
[al-Israa’ 17:15]
It is known that the Messenger 
          of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent the Ghaamidi woman 
          who was pregnant as a result of zinaa away until she gave birth, then 
          after the birth he sent her away until she had breastfed the child and 
          weaned him. She came back with the child who had a piece of bread. The 
          Prophet 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave the child to one of 
          the Muslims, then he gave orders that she should be placed in a hole 
          up to her chest, and commanded the people to stone her. Imaam al-Nawawi 
          said concerning this hadeeth: “A pregnant woman should not be stoned 
          until she gives birth, whether her pregnancy is the result of zina or 
          otherwise. This is agreed upon, lest her foetus be killed. The same 
          applies if her hadd punishment is flogging; a pregnant woman should 
          not be flogged, according to consensus, until she has given birth.” 
          (Saheeh Muslim bi Sharh al-Nawawi, 11/202)
This incident shows us the 
          extent to which Islam is concerned with the foetus, even if it is the 
          result of zina: the Prophet 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) delayed the carrying out 
          of the hadd punishment on the mother in order to save the life 
          of the foetus.
Can it be imagined that the 
          Lawgiver would permit killing the foetuses by abortion in order to fulfil 
          the wishes of those who follow their whims and desires?
Furthermore, those who say 
          that abortion is permitted within the first forty days of a legitimate 
          pregnancy based their ijtihaad on a concession, like not fasting in 
          Ramadaan for those who have valid excuses, or shortening the four-rak’ah 
          prayers whilst travelling, but it is stated in sharee’ah that concessions 
          cannot be connected to sins. 
Imaam al-Quraafi said: “With 
          regard to sins, they cannot be taken as reasons for concessions. Hence 
          one who is travelling for the purpose of sin cannot shorten his prayers 
          or break his fast, because the reason for doing these is travelling, 
          but in this case the reason for travelling is to commit sin, so the 
          concession does not apply, because granting a concession on the basis 
          of sin will encourage people to sin further.” (al-Furooq, 2/33)
Similarly, the basic principles 
          of Islamic sharee’ah do not give the same concessions to a woman who 
          is pregnant as a result of zinaa as are given to a woman who is pregnant 
          as a result of proper marriage, lest that help her in her sin, and it 
          does not make it easy for her to get rid of the results of her evil 
          actions.
In addition, the foetus in the case of 
          zinaa has no guardian, because according to sharee’ah the title of father 
          can only be given to the one who has a child from a woman in a proper 
          marriage. This is part of the meaning of the hadeeth: “The child goes 
          to the owner of the bed and the adulterer gets nothing but the stones 
          (despair, i.e. to be stoned to death).” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari and 
          Muslim). The guardian of the foetus in such cases is the sultan or ruler 
          – the one who is in charge of the Muslims’ affairs – for he is the guardian 
          of those who have no guardian. The way in which the ruler disposes of 
          people’s affairs is based on the interests of the people, and there 
          is no interest to be served in destroying the soul of the foetus in 
          order to preserve the mother’s interests, because that would involve 
          encouraging her and others to persist in this evil action.