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wa-lā taqtulū ʾawlādakum khashyata ʾimlāqin naḥnu narzuquhum wa-ʾiyyākum ʾinna qatlahum kāna khiṭʾan kabīran
Do not kill your children for the fear of penury: We will provide for them and for you. Killing them is indeed a great iniquity.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Isra’ – Verse 31
31. “And do not kill your offspring for fear of poverty. We sustain them as well as you. Verily killing them is a capital sin.”
The Arabic term /’iml aq/ signifies poverty and empty-handedness. The provision of the means of sustenance is of the power of Allah and the greatness in quantity and number of population is irrelevant. Therefore, having a larger number of offspring is not a factor in a family’s poverty. Following the former various sections of the Islamic commandments which were discussed in the previous sections, the Holy Qur’an deals in here with an other part of these commandments and explains six important commandments within five verses in concise, meaningful, and interesting statements.
At first, He alludes to one of the viscous practices of the ‘Age of Ignorance’ which was among the most heinous of the crimes, saying:
“And do not kill your offspring for fear of poverty…”
It is not you who provide them with nourishment; it is We Who provide them as well as you with means of sustenance. Killing them is and has been a capital sin. The verse says:
“…We sustain them as well as you. Verily killing them is a capital sin.”
This verse provides us with clues regarding the economic situation of the Arabs of the Age of Ignorance which has been so gruesome that they used to kill their dear offspring whether boys or girls for fear of lack of financial resources, hence getting rid of them. This case of crimes, of course, is obviously presented to us in another form during our times and in our so-called most progressive types of societies. It shows itself in the form of getting rid of pregnancies in a most widespread form for the sake of preventing over population and avoiding economic insufficiencies.
To conclude this statement, we must note that a child is entitled to live and parents cannot take away this right from him. Sometimes, it so happens that our very means of sustenance depends on our children’s means of sustenance, therefore, killing one’s own child and terminating one’s pregnancy (aborting) are both capital sins and an offence of immense proportions.