What is the ruling on artificial insemination, given that the Islamic Fiqh Academy has issued a fatwa permitting it, and we have objected to this fatwa and demonstrated to them that there are
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The student: There are many questions, if you would allow it, a question for Dr. Abu Yahya.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The student: He has a specific question about test-tube babies.
The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome. What is the doctor’s specialty?
The questioner : My specialty is in the field of neurology. I am a professor at King Faisal University in the College of Medicine, where I teach the subject of neurology.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The questioner : And we are now discussing test-tube babies; perhaps you have heard something about that.
The Shaykh : It is necessary.
The questioner : Recently, this phenomenon has entered our midst. Perhaps you can see this picture; this is a test-tube baby, and he is deformed. This happened to a Venezuelan woman who underwent insemination, and experiments may have been conducted on the child or the embryo to the extent that he emerged with this deformity, having the face of a dog. Of course, artificial insemination is currently open in the Islamic world, and may Allah reward them well, as the Islamic Fiqh Academy issued a fatwa permitting it, on the condition that the insemination be between the husband’s sperm and the wife’s egg.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This is what happened, but this stage is interspersed with many impurities and many manipulations that lead to the mixing of lineages, such as errors in the test tubes, where one person adjusts his sperm and deposits it in the laboratory, and an error occurs, so they draw from a tube other than the intended one, or manipulation occurs by the doctors themselves, such as using a stallion’s sperm on the basis that it will help their experiments and work succeed. We are now in the midst of this; we presented a major study and objected to the Islamic Fiqh Academy’s fatwa because there are manipulations, and we proved this to the Islamic Fiqh Academy, showing that there is ill intent, error, and what is known as some manipulation of the genes, which are the hereditary traits. And now, these people in the Kingdom and in the Islamic world have not clarified these errors to the patients so that they may be informed. They tell people that we have great success, and so on, and we do not know what is actually happening. In addition, those who perform this work in the laboratories are all non-Muslims. That is, the doctor’s role is simple; the last thing he does is remove the embryo and implant it in the uterus, while the one who conducts the experiments is
The Shaykh : the disbeliever.
The questioner : The disbelievers; most of them are disbelievers. We in the Kingdom and in the Islamic world want your opinion on this matter, so may Allah reward you with good?
The Shaykh : I would like to clarify something, perhaps you have heard something about it from others. How is the insemination process carried out? Does this process not require the exposure of the awrah (nakedness)?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So I do not know why this issue is not mentioned in this topic to be taken as a legal reason for prohibiting this artificial insemination?
The questioner : It happens to the woman more than once, not once or twice, but several times. Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Jaza’iri said regarding this matter from this angle, because the woman is exposed to unveiling more than once, and since this is not a dire necessity, nor does it save her from death, nor does it accomplish anything for her, this artificial insemination must be stopped from this angle.
The Shaykh : This is it.
The questioner : This is the opinion of Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Jaza’iri.
The Shaykh : This is the truth, and I...
The questioner : We see, we want your opinion.
The Shaykh : This is my opinion, but I wanted to verify that the process necessarily involves exposure to the unveiling of the awrah, whether for the man or the woman, is that correct?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Well, and therefore I am surprised by those who go to the extent of permitting this process. Even if we assume they do not have the problems you mentioned, considering you are a doctor and you know better than these jurists, but they know, as I know, that this process requires the unveiling of the awrah of both spouses. Unveiling is forbidden except for a dire necessity, and there is absolutely no dire necessity by which we would permit committing a clear prohibition. Therefore, even if there were not the manipulations, falsifications, and the involvement of disbelievers in this matter that you pointed out, it would be sufficient for me that it requires exposing the spouses to the unveiling of the awrah. I add to this something else: those who undertake this effort appear to have been afflicted with infertility, and thus they try to overcome this affliction by resorting to these twisted, unlawful paths. And in that case, it appears to me that it is not befitting for a Muslim to resort to such a means that contradicts submission to the divine decree and destiny. It is known by the explicit text of the Noble Qur’an, the well-known verse, that Allah the Exalted said:[Ash-Shuraa 42:50] So this is as if he wants to rise above the will of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, and resort to means that do not please Allah the Exalted. Therefore, and before you asked me this question, based on what was in my mind that the process does not take place unless the spouses are exposed to the unveiling of the awrah, and now I have increased in faith that this matter is not permissible, looking at the known rulings of the Shari’ah, in addition to what you mentioned as a doctor, that lineages may be mixed there, and that one’s fluid may be exploited for the benefit of one who has no fluid, and the like. So I join my voice to the voice of Abu Bakr al-Jaza’iri and I conclude that this is not permissible in the religion of Islam.
The questioner : And Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen also issued a fatwa that it is not permissible.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless him.
The questioner : I met Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in the Holy City of Madinah and he issued a fatwa.
The questioner : There is a point, O Shaykh. Some jurists see this as a type of medical treatment, and because it is treatment, they permitted the matter of its performance. Of course, the jurists do not realize how the woman is exposed, not the man, while the woman is the one who is exposed to unveiling more than once, more than once, because several attempts are made, and it may not succeed until the fourth or fifth attempt, after her private parts are seen by the entire insemination team, including men and women, not one or two, and more than four or five people perform the procedure. So of course, the one who is exposed to this is the woman, not the man.
The Shaykh : I said once, and I was asked this question, I do not imagine the permissibility of this process unless one of the spouses is a doctor. Do you understand me?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not imagine the permissibility of this process unless one of the spouses is a doctor, so that one of them performs the procedure between them, and that is all. And I do not know if a person can imagine this or not?
The questioner : Yes, a person can imagine it.
The Shaykh : Yes, but it is rare.
The questioner : But it is very difficult, because it is not he who performs it, as the laboratory is run by another person, and he cannot perform all the functions that the process requires.
The Shaykh : But I mean the unveiling, the unveiling of the woman’s awrah can be done by the husband who is a doctor, for example, while the rest of the things do not carry danger.
The questioner : Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh : Except for the aspect you pointed out.
The questioner : Which is the error, because he may make a mistake with a second tube, or the manipulation that occurs.
The Shaykh : In any case, the matter is completely clear that it is not permissible.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good and increase your good.
The Shaykh : And to you as well, if Allah wills.
The questioner : The conversation was with Shaykh, His Eminence Shaykh Nasir Muhammad al-Albani.
The Shaykh : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani.
The questioner : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, on Sunday, the ninth of Rajab, 1410.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The student: He has a specific question about test-tube babies.
The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome. What is the doctor’s specialty?
The questioner : My specialty is in the field of neurology. I am a professor at King Faisal University in the College of Medicine, where I teach the subject of neurology.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The questioner : And we are now discussing test-tube babies; perhaps you have heard something about that.
The Shaykh : It is necessary.
The questioner : Recently, this phenomenon has entered our midst. Perhaps you can see this picture; this is a test-tube baby, and he is deformed. This happened to a Venezuelan woman who underwent insemination, and experiments may have been conducted on the child or the embryo to the extent that he emerged with this deformity, having the face of a dog. Of course, artificial insemination is currently open in the Islamic world, and may Allah reward them well, as the Islamic Fiqh Academy issued a fatwa permitting it, on the condition that the insemination be between the husband’s sperm and the wife’s egg.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This is what happened, but this stage is interspersed with many impurities and many manipulations that lead to the mixing of lineages, such as errors in the test tubes, where one person adjusts his sperm and deposits it in the laboratory, and an error occurs, so they draw from a tube other than the intended one, or manipulation occurs by the doctors themselves, such as using a stallion’s sperm on the basis that it will help their experiments and work succeed. We are now in the midst of this; we presented a major study and objected to the Islamic Fiqh Academy’s fatwa because there are manipulations, and we proved this to the Islamic Fiqh Academy, showing that there is ill intent, error, and what is known as some manipulation of the genes, which are the hereditary traits. And now, these people in the Kingdom and in the Islamic world have not clarified these errors to the patients so that they may be informed. They tell people that we have great success, and so on, and we do not know what is actually happening. In addition, those who perform this work in the laboratories are all non-Muslims. That is, the doctor’s role is simple; the last thing he does is remove the embryo and implant it in the uterus, while the one who conducts the experiments is
The Shaykh : the disbeliever.
The questioner : The disbelievers; most of them are disbelievers. We in the Kingdom and in the Islamic world want your opinion on this matter, so may Allah reward you with good?
The Shaykh : I would like to clarify something, perhaps you have heard something about it from others. How is the insemination process carried out? Does this process not require the exposure of the awrah (nakedness)?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So I do not know why this issue is not mentioned in this topic to be taken as a legal reason for prohibiting this artificial insemination?
The questioner : It happens to the woman more than once, not once or twice, but several times. Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Jaza’iri said regarding this matter from this angle, because the woman is exposed to unveiling more than once, and since this is not a dire necessity, nor does it save her from death, nor does it accomplish anything for her, this artificial insemination must be stopped from this angle.
The Shaykh : This is it.
The questioner : This is the opinion of Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Jaza’iri.
The Shaykh : This is the truth, and I...
The questioner : We see, we want your opinion.
The Shaykh : This is my opinion, but I wanted to verify that the process necessarily involves exposure to the unveiling of the awrah, whether for the man or the woman, is that correct?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Well, and therefore I am surprised by those who go to the extent of permitting this process. Even if we assume they do not have the problems you mentioned, considering you are a doctor and you know better than these jurists, but they know, as I know, that this process requires the unveiling of the awrah of both spouses. Unveiling is forbidden except for a dire necessity, and there is absolutely no dire necessity by which we would permit committing a clear prohibition. Therefore, even if there were not the manipulations, falsifications, and the involvement of disbelievers in this matter that you pointed out, it would be sufficient for me that it requires exposing the spouses to the unveiling of the awrah. I add to this something else: those who undertake this effort appear to have been afflicted with infertility, and thus they try to overcome this affliction by resorting to these twisted, unlawful paths. And in that case, it appears to me that it is not befitting for a Muslim to resort to such a means that contradicts submission to the divine decree and destiny. It is known by the explicit text of the Noble Qur’an, the well-known verse, that Allah the Exalted said:
He renders whom He wills barren
يجعل من يشاء عقيماThe questioner : And Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen also issued a fatwa that it is not permissible.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless him.
The questioner : I met Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in the Holy City of Madinah and he issued a fatwa.
The questioner : There is a point, O Shaykh. Some jurists see this as a type of medical treatment, and because it is treatment, they permitted the matter of its performance. Of course, the jurists do not realize how the woman is exposed, not the man, while the woman is the one who is exposed to unveiling more than once, more than once, because several attempts are made, and it may not succeed until the fourth or fifth attempt, after her private parts are seen by the entire insemination team, including men and women, not one or two, and more than four or five people perform the procedure. So of course, the one who is exposed to this is the woman, not the man.
The Shaykh : I said once, and I was asked this question, I do not imagine the permissibility of this process unless one of the spouses is a doctor. Do you understand me?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not imagine the permissibility of this process unless one of the spouses is a doctor, so that one of them performs the procedure between them, and that is all. And I do not know if a person can imagine this or not?
The questioner : Yes, a person can imagine it.
The Shaykh : Yes, but it is rare.
The questioner : But it is very difficult, because it is not he who performs it, as the laboratory is run by another person, and he cannot perform all the functions that the process requires.
The Shaykh : But I mean the unveiling, the unveiling of the woman’s awrah can be done by the husband who is a doctor, for example, while the rest of the things do not carry danger.
The questioner : Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh : Except for the aspect you pointed out.
The questioner : Which is the error, because he may make a mistake with a second tube, or the manipulation that occurs.
The Shaykh : In any case, the matter is completely clear that it is not permissible.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good and increase your good.
The Shaykh : And to you as well, if Allah wills.
The questioner : The conversation was with Shaykh, His Eminence Shaykh Nasir Muhammad al-Albani.
The Shaykh : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani.
The questioner : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, on Sunday, the ninth of Rajab, 1410.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.