Artificial Insemination

With respect to the article, “Test-tube baby? It’s a sin” (Hindustan Times, Mumbai edition, December 21, 2007), I have to say that artificial insemination is one of the newer issues on which Muslim scholars have done some collective analysis in the light of the principles of the Qur’an and teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be with him). This procedure is allowed in Islam as long as it is between legally married couples during the life of the husband. Muslim jurists stress that under the Shari’ah, a wife is not allowed to receive the semen of her ex-husband after divorce or after his death as she may face a very difficult situation concerning this, especially if she gets pregnant, while her husband is dead or she is divorced. Involvement of a third party, other than the spouses, in the process of fertilisation, such as eggs coming from another woman or another woman acting as a surrogate mother, or sperm coming from another man, is expressly prohibited as it is tantamount to adultery and may cause confusion in establishing the lineage of the baby-to-be-born as well. The jurists also suggest strict precaution while handling the samples and a cross-check on the integrity and trustworthiness of the doctors involved.