Journal - International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine

ISLAMIC MEDICAL ETHICS IN ASSISTED CONCEPTION
who will nurture and deliver the baby? The recipient
of the embryo who nurtures and delivers the baby
will be the mother, in concordance with the following
verse.
“None can be their mothers except those who
gave them birth” Q: 48:2
The pregnancy would be within the ‘family’ and
under the ‘marriage contract’ and the mixing of genes
and family lineage are restricted to the ‘extended’
family. These are intricate and difficult questions for
which answers are still awaited; the same holds for a
Muslim couple who wishes to donate surplus
embryos to other
Unused Embryos
It is common practice for surplus embryos to be
either donated, discarded, destroyed, stored or used
for research according to the wishes of the couple. To
date Islamic Fuqaha (jurists) have paid little heed to
this aspect of reproductive medicine and the status of
the embryo. Are embryos living beings, do they have
any rights and are they entitled for protection from
harm? Islam considers any part of the human body as
precious and sacred. It is surprising that the product
of the union of sperm and egg, producing a living
‘potential’ human, albeit a miniature one, has
received scant respect and attention by the jurists, to
date. Embryos are stored away encapsulated and
frozen in steel cylinders, perhaps, never to see the
light of day; evoking Huxleyan nightmares of little
genies, hibernating in hatcheries all over the globe.
The concept of ‘pre embryo; which has been proposed
to salve the conscience hardly solves the ethical
issue. From a pragmatic viewpoint, it has to be
conceded that an embryo is different to that of a
growing foetus in utero. It is also true that there is no
guarantee of implantation and growth into a foetus.
While this may be true, the embryo has at least the
status of a potential human and therefore, merits
some respect and dignity. Maybe the answer is to permit
all surplus embryos to be donated to infertile non-
Muslim couples. If this is not permissible, perhaps,
the number of eggs produced should be tailored to
give two healthy embryos. If despite this, there are
surplus embryos, indefinite storage should be dis-
JISHIM 2004, 3
Farouk MAHMOUD
couraged and a time limit should be imposed.
Embryos should be destroyed in the event of a
divorce or death. Whether embryos could be donated
for research is another issue which awaits the
Fuqaha’s response.
Surrogacy
Where the mother has no womb or a womb which
cannot nurture a pregnancy, the embryo is transferred
to the womb of a surrogate, who would hand over the
baby to the ‘contracting couple’. Surrogacy may be
partial where the husband contributes the sperm and
gestational or full, where the surrogate provides no
gametes which are derived from the husband and
wife. Though gestational surrogacy was permitted,
this permissibility has since been withdrawn by the
jurists. The reason is possibly that nurturing and
delivering the baby confers motherhood, rather than
biological, genetic contribution and procreation is
outside the marriage contract. This caveat notwithstanding,
there is some justification for considering
surrogacy as a form of adoption. It is true that Islam
does not recognise adoption in the conventional
sense, stipulating that the genetic father or his name,
must be retained as the father. Of course in gestational
surrogacy, the sperm comes from the father and
therefore he is the genetic, biological and the rearing
father. So there should not be a problem of the commissioning
couple ‘adopting’ this baby from the surrogate
mother. Also. What is the situation of a cowife
in a polygamous relationship being the surrogate.
After all, the conception is within the marriage
contract; modified perhaps but still within the same
family. If the co-wife is agreeable, she is like a ‘wet
nurse’ who provides succour to the foetus in-utero.
Pre Implantation Genetic Diagnosis
(PGD)
PGD is an ingenious technique whereby the early
embryo is tested for chromosomal or genetic abnormalities,
and the normal embryo chosen for transfer.
It is an excellent alternative to conventional pre-natal
diagnosis and obviates the necessity of an abortion.
“… the stage is set for a revolution in functional
genomics and human genetics …Central to this revolution
will be the gene chip, with the potential to iden-
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