Cairo, Egypt - Al Azhar, the most respected and influential Sunni Muslim institution, said women who were subjected to sexual abuse could have an abortion in order to maintain "social standing" in their community.
It said, however, that ending the pregnancy should be undertaken at the earliest possible time.
The head of Al Azhar, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, told the government-run daily newspaper, Al Ahram, that "any girl or woman, who is subjected to rape, has the right in Islam to have an abortion at anytime, and she would not commit a sin for doing this."
"A raped woman must terminate the pregnancy immediately upon learning of the pregnancy if a trusted doctor gives her clearance for the abortion," the Cairo-based Islamic institution said.
Currently, abortion is illegal in Egypt
However, many women and girls pay the equivalent of US$100 for the procedure at private clinics in order to avoid the stigma of pregnancy without marriage.
Al Azhar's statement has caused a Member of Parliament, Khalil Quota, to introduce a bill that will legalise abortions in rape cases, which will give at least 200,000 women who are victims of sexual assault this option.
However, Fawzia Abdul Sattar, a professor of criminal law, said she opposed the measure, saying that "endorsing the right to abortion in the cases of rape has several risks".
"In the first place, this bill deals with the aftermath of the crime, but not the crime itself," she said.
"Legalising abortion for rape victims may well encourage immoral behavior on the part of girls involved in illicit affairs, who would manipulate the code and claim they were raped," she added.