Ibn Masood, how are you I hope well and close to Allah. You bring up an excellent points beloved brother which leads to a series of questions. Such as, is abortion allowable and when is a fetus or zygote considered a human (person) etc. Also as a question of importance and relation to what was said is the question of when is a life in the womb considered to be possessed of legal capacity (Ahliyyah)? Is it Halal to use the human body of human tissue for scientific inquiry.

These questions need address. Maybe Shaikh Suhaib can post some of the latest positions on such grave topics.

Thank you Ibn Masud for the mindful thoughts. This is truly the fiqh we need it is very relevant to today. So thank you too Shaikh Suhaib for posting the fatwa in the first place.

May Allah reward you both.

Abul-Hussein

May Allah swt increase you in knowledge and bless your family .

I was reading through this and felt something was missing. The ethical controversy that mainly occurs with stem cells is when human embryos need to be destroyed to obtain a line of stem cells. What basically happens is that leftover excess human embryos from In-Vitro-Fertilization (a method used to artificially inseminate female egg cells with male sperm outside of the body) are destroyed to obtain the stem cells from them. From my limited research these embryos appear to be the most significant source of embryonic stem cells. Some questions then pop to my mind: Wouldn't the requirement of the Shariah to preserve life prevent these embryos from being used? Do these embryos constitute life Islamically in the first place?

Therefore I'm confused with this fatwa because the main source of stem cells that is causing global controversy in the first place has not been addressed. The embryos that are responsible for this controversy are not miscarried, they are spare embryos kept in storage from IVF procedures.

If you know of any fatawa or Ulema that have dealt directly with this issue of IVF-derived embryonic stem cells, could you post it on your blog so we could benefit inshaAllah?

BarakAllahu feeh.

Hope your well Abu Muhammad. One can strongly agree with the position of fiqh councils and the need for them to take on a role of centrality in matters that affect the Ummah as a whole. No doubt group ijtihad is called for here and in fact is wajib as this is no matter for individual ijtihad alone. On the other hand, the notion of international consensus what does that mean? If that was practically possible then “ijma” would be easily attainable today and political leadership of the Ummah would be much more easy we know this is no light act it is a major and idealistic feat. With that said we need something more practical. So we are back to at least looking to the major Fiqh Councils for guidance those which host scholars from around the world and then their ijtihad should be looked at as binding whether or not it is backed by a court system.

There is something missing from the logic of our thinking here. The question to be posed is what is the cause for the absence of the major educational institutions of the Muslim world on this platform of biomedical ethic or and other such as you mentioned and rightly so -economics? When we come to answer this question then we will understand the impotency of fiqh councils today. Unfortunately, most Muslims do not recognize their authority. If you permit me to say is it not possible that we need to start reform by cultivating the necessity and importance of fiqh councils over personalities on matters that affect the Ummah?

Please keep me in your du'aa

I stand corrected. You are correct here and I'm sit with you at the same bus stop waiting for that to happen.

SDW

JazakAllah for your reply.

In relation to the issue of international bodies. I am familiar with the Darul Ifta's workings. I appreciate that they host a large number of conferences and train muftis and answer thousands of questions a day, but so do all other national/local Darul Iftas! And many of the 'ulema of local scholarly bodies of Saudia, India, Syria etc. also sit on international bodies.

My point is more as follows: in relation to cutting edge new issues which are of a sensitive nature, we need to try to develop an international consensus on these issues. These are not matters which should even be sorted out at a national level. Dont' get me wrong, on a personal level, I not only follow a specific madhab but for most financial and ibadah matters follow a particular Darul Ifta from a particular country.

But I think for such controversial/cutting edge scientific issues such as stem cell research we actually need a specialized body like what AAOIFI has done in the realm of contemporary banking and financing. http://www.aaoifi.com/sharia-board.html They have made tremendous progress in a few decades to the point that in some countries the fatwas of AAOIFI hold the status of law!

WiBillahiTawfeeq.

I pray you are well. I respectflluy don't agree with your contention. Granted there could me more details provided, there is not much difference between the two answers.

I would also disagree with your advice given to Darl Ifta and it shows your lack or familiarity with the place. They receive over 10,000 questions a day, host a large number of scholarly conferences, train muftis and many of their members sit on the very Majma's you mentioned. I do support the idea of making the Majm'as a reference, but I fail to understand how discrediting national fatwa bodies is going to help Muslims.

SDW

Apologies for seeming harsh but I pray that Allah swt guides all our scholars to excellence in their research and presentation. And may
Allah swt reward them all!

Moreover, it doesn't answer many questions directly posed such as can cells from miscarried embryos be used in research?
How about ones that are obtained after abortions? Is it permissible for a healthy woman to give her embryo for such research?

Also, the conculsion is misleading. The Ruling section seems to make it seem like there is general permissibility in relation to stem
cell research while as in the body of the fatwa itself there seems to be a negativity attached with taking such cells from a child!?!?

Sorry but just to compare, see the clear cut and logical ruling given by the Rabita fiqh councel at the end of this article:

http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2008/0801/08011…

It is best to leave such sensitive matters to international fiqh councils such as the Majma al Fiqh. Local bodies such as Dar al Ifta
al Misriyyah, Darul Ulum Karachi, or e.g. a local scholarly body in Riyadh should not simply rule on such a sensitive issue without due
consideration in an international public forum that involves 'ulema from around the world as well as scientific experts.

Respectfully, we need details at this stage from our 'ulema, not half baked answers that lead to more confusion. Otherwise, its just a
dis-service.