From an Islamic perspective, the idea of “my body, my choice” doesn’t really hold up because, for Muslims, our bodies aren’t actually ours. They’re a trust (Amānah) from Allah. He’s the one who owns everything, including our bodies, and we’re simply entrusted with them for a time. Sure, we have free will and can make our own choices, but that doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want without consequences. If we misuse what Allah has entrusted to us, we’re accountable for that.

Think of it like this: imagine you come home one day and find a car in your driveway with a note saying, “This is for you to use, but only to go to work.” You didn’t make the car, and you didn’t buy it, so it’s not really yours. You might drive it, park it where you like, or even change the rims, but the note makes it clear you can only use it to go to work. If someone asks you to take the car on a road trip to another state, you’d have to say no because that’s not part of the agreement. That’s the same logic when it comes to our bodies. We didn’t make them, we didn’t buy them—they were given to us by Allah with specific guidelines on how to use them.

You don’t own anything that you didn’t make or buy, right? Even with nature, there are rules. If you chop down a tree, you can’t just use it for anything you want, like burning someone’s house down. You have to use it in a way that’s allowed by Allah. So when it comes to our bodies, they’re not ours to do whatever we please with. They’re a trust, and we’re meant to use them in ways that align with Allah’s guidance.

Shaykh Shadee Elmasry