What is Abortion

In Islam, issues and concerns that arise in Muslim societies are addressed and often resolved by issuing fatāwā, or religious rulings, derived from the ‘ulamā's reasonings that are based on the Qur'ān and the Sunnah. In Brunei Darussalam, its State Mufti provides religious verdicts on various issues, including healthcare. Thus, this chapter seeks to analyse whether Brunei Darussalam's health professionals handle medical ethical cases in a manner that is congruent to the State Mufti's fatāwā. There are many issues pertaining to ethics in medical healthcare, however, only three contentious ones will be discussed: euthanasia, organ transplantation, and abortion. A semi-structured e-mail interview was sent to several hospital nurses under relevant departments. The findings demonstrate a certain degree of congruity, with the exception of abortion cases. The State Mufti declared that abortion in rape cases is not sinful, but legally, it would still be considered as a crime, as the Brunei law states that abortion is permissible only if the pregnancy is detrimental to the mother's health.